Standard Operating Procedure
by Lone-ranger1
Summary: SG-1 has put an end to the RedScope threat and has moved on, but something they missed will come back to haunt them. A simple mistake will bring change to the galaxy they never imagined. Sequel to Occupational Hazard.
1. Unfinished Business

**Standard Operating Procedure**

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**A/N:** Welcome to SOP, the long awaited sequel to Occupational Hazard. It's not strictly necessary to have read Occupational Hazard, but it'll help with some of the backstory. You can find it via my author link above.

**Warnings:** Strong T level violence, coarse language(Up to and including "F") implied adult situations, whump, and the razor sharp edge of sarcasm and snark.

**Characters: **SG-1 with focus on Sam and Cam. Minor cameos by other recognizable faces (yes that includes Jack :P)

_Keep an eye on the dates before each scene, this fic takes place over several months and is interweaved with SG Canon.  
_

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**Chapter 1: Unfinished Business**

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**- Planet: P2X-3YZ (Earth) -**

**- Stargate Command -**

**- February 27th 2007 -**

**- 11:32 am Local Time -**

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"You can't win, Cam. I can probably statistically prove it."

Colonel Cameron Mitchell maintained his poise, and ignored the distraction of Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter seated next to him, his gaze was locked onto Teal'c who sat opposite him with a hint of a smile on his face. "You think I don't know that? But I'm _going_ to set the record here!"

Around Cam, Sam and Teal'c, the other two parts of SG-1 watched carefully to ensure neither of the two competitors blinked. More than a few airmen and other officers had crowded around, most of the money passing hands going towards Teal'c's victory. Cam was undaunted, and he now twitched slightly as Teal'c remained motionless.

The Jaffa Warrior wasn't silent though. "Colonel Mitchell, I regret to inform you that I have had much more practice at this game than you may realize."

Cam growled and narrowed his eyes a fraction. "Disneyland don't count! How'd you expect me to concentrate with _Goofy_ dancin' 'round right behind me!" Cam fought his chuckles at how several of the costumed goons at their recent trip to Disneyland had attempted to get Teal'c to laugh, they'd _all_ failed.

Doctor Daniel Jackson, - sitting beside Teal'c - said. "I don't think he means Disneyland Cam," He turned towards Teal'c who remained still as a stone. "He never beat you, did he?" Cam kept his composure - Daniel mentioning their non-trip through time on _Odyssey_ wouldn't distract him.

Teal'c merely smiled slightly more and continued staring into Cam's eyes. "Indeed."

Vala Mal Doran rubbed her chin as she watched Cam from opposite him. "Fifty years, Cameron. You should just give up now and take up quilting. I could use a new sweater."

Many of the airmen and officers chuckled and continued to bet and generally be a _very_ bad distraction. Cam winced and felt his eyelids yearning to close and hydrate his eyes. "Not yet!"

Sam chuckled and took a sip of her tea, she kept a close eye on the betting and knew that Cam was fast approaching his record. "Win this and you could probably pay all those IOUs you owe me."

Cam grit his teeth, now determined to win it. "Yer on!"

The airmen and women who'd bet on Cam started to chant _"Mit-chell! Mit-chell! Mit-chell!"_

Teal'c was completely unfazed though and even reached down to take a tater tot from his tray. He almost condescendingly put it in his mouth and began to chew with emphasis, all the while staring at Cam with undaunting force. Cam's eyes were burning - five excruciating minutes and he was reaching the end of his reserves. Another thirty seconds and -

_"Unscheduled offworld activation! Base to full alert!"_

Cam blinked and his hands went immediately to his face - everyone around groaned as they quickly exchanged their monies, and headed out to their assigned areas.

SG-1 reacted fast, the food was left on the table, and Sam led the way up to the control room to see what was going on. Cam blinked repeatedly, his vision fuzzy from the odd experience. "Hey! Wait up!"

Teal'c had already gone ahead with Sam, and Cam was completely lost as he walked around. In a base emergency, everyone needed to get to their post as fast as possible, Cam stumbled out of the mess hall after his team, only to find that Vala had stayed behind to ensure he was okay. "Come on, Cam!" She took his arm, and led him down the busy hallways to the gateroom much to Cam's relief.

Cam's vision was back to normal by the time he'd reached the gateroom. Sam coordinated with General Landry and Walter at the forefront. "Who is it?"

Sam turned her head over her shoulder and nodded once. "It's SG-2. They were on a recon mission to a Lucian Alliance base we've been keeping an eye on the past few weeks with offworld teams."

Cam took his place by Sam and General Landry, a full squad of Marines in the gateroom below had their weapons trained on the gate, standard operating procedure for any unscheduled activation. The trinium-titanium iris slid apart, and - moments later - Colonel Reynolds along with Major Anne Teldy walked through. Following them was a MALP with what looked like a dessicated body on top, The Marine guards tracked the MALP, probably just in case the body decided to reanimate and develop a taste for human flesh. To Cam, it was an amusing thought. Perhaps the George Romero zombie marathon wasn't the best idea to have had the night prior.

Captain Alicia Vega and Master Sergeant Ronald Greer followed behind the MALP with a radio control. Both looked quite disturbed by what they'd seen.

Cam could clearly see that the body on the MALP - with his vision back to its pristine 20/10 - had a torn open chest despite the burns; those kinds of wounds only came from projectile weapons. "Look at his chest, center mass shots. Didn'cha say that planet was Lucian Alliance?"

Sam remained unusually silent, and General Landry sighed softly as he spoke into the loudspeaker. "SG-2, Get cleaned up and report to the briefing room." He turned to Sam and Cam and nodded. "Get suited up just in case. Something tells me we're gonna want to know what happened over there."

**

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**- Planet: P6N-1X8 (Collust) -**

**- Lucian Alliance Kassa Plantation -**

**- February 18th, 2007 -**

**-10:55pm Local Time -**

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It was a dark and actually quite pleasant night to Sotero's surprise, much nicer and less annoying than those dark and _stormy_ nights that played havoc on the camera system. He likened those nights to badly scripted stories.

The clouds were light and fluffy in the sky, the air was slightly moist but not so much as to cause discomfort, and even better, the forecast read for rain to come later the next day. For Sotero Adima, the lieutenant in charge of this plantation of Kassa, there couldn't possibly be an easier or more prodigious job.

Sotero yawned as he waited for his Tel'tak to fully land, having just returned from a meeting with the other Kassa plantation heads. He nodded to his assistant as she hander him a notepad with production notes and investment in materials and men.

Sotero sighed and handed it back. As great as this job was, it could get annoyingly bureaucratical. After checking in with a few other of his subordinates, making sure everything was running smoothly, he retired to the main complex of the base.

The ground was soft and fertile, perfect for Kassa. This temperate world had been through several extinctions over the ages, making the ground exceptionally good for any sort of farming. Sotero was even considering expanding into actual food supply instead of just Kassa. Diversity ensured he'd keep his business going.

Everything was dark, only a few lights remained on at a time like this. A few hellos, a few mementos from the meeting given out, and Sotero went up to the control tower which he'd turned into his office.

He sat comfortably in the hastily erected hanger tower at the south end of a kilometer long landing zone for Tel'taks, Al'Kesh, and on the rare occasion, one of the precious Ha'tak left to the Alliance. He was lucky to own his own Tel'tak that sat alone on the pad now though. Sotero had stolen it during a Tok'ra rebellion on his world and it had helped ensure his position in the Alliance.

The hangar control room was fitted with a communications hub connecting him to all his men and women, a control device for a ground to orbit staff cannon to scare the natives, and even camera positions all over. He was as close to a god as he could be and he damn well enjoyed it. Sotero only wished the higher ups didn't demand a production list and inventory; it's not like _he_ was going to be eating away their profits.

Even better than being in charge though, the stupid pre-industrial tribe of sub-humans on this planet were the most manipulable people he'd ever met. Given that fact that they saw the Chappa'ai as some kind of portal to higher realms of existence instead of planets, none of Sotero's men had to till the fields, water them, or even harvest. The 'quality control' test subjects were another benefit that other Kassa plantations had issues with.

If any of the almost two hundred sub-mutants gave him lip, he'd shock them with a Zat'na'ki'tel and say that their new gods wouldn't be so lenient to them the next time. Sotero now understood what the Goa'uld System Lords must have felt like.

The perks were the real advantage of this posting though, As long as the Kassa flowed, none of the higher ups in the Alliance would bother him beyond a transmitted request for more. He'd even managed to stay clear of Kiva, that self-serving _bachti kregat!_

He'd become the governor if not _emperor_ of this planet. Sotero had it all, loyal servants who shared the spoils of the Kassa farming, a little planet out of the way of the Ori fanatics, the Tok'ra agents, or even the Tau'ri infiltrators. He still kept a watch out, because he had no intention of getting caught with his pants down should one arrive. As long as the Kassa kept flowing, the Alliance got their cut, Sotero was set for life.

Sotero remembered of one of the nicer perks about being a god with a smile. He keyed in his personal assistant, a new and fresh faced servant who'd worked with the Free Jaffa for a time before finding Sotero on this planet and… _transferring_ positions. "Anna-Keen, you there?"

Sotero checked all the cameras - everything looked normal. Anna'Keen's voice came through - the hint of an accent Sotero couldn't put his finger on always amused him. "_Yeah, Sotero? You need something?"_

"Not something… some_one._"

Anna'Keen replied with a suggestive chuckle "_Ah, feeling anxious again are we? Alright, I'm over by the staff cannon; I can swing by and get us some company." _A pause and something that sounded like a muffled cough came over before he continued. "_So you want that little redhead again, or something different?"_

Sotero sighed in relaxation as memories washed through. "See if the redhead's around, otherwise just get me one with nice lips."

Anna'Keen chuckled and replied in the affirmative. Sotero sat back down on his chair and looked at the odd light on the monitor. That light _was_ strange; there was something about it that seemed unnatural. As far as Sotero knew, he had only one team out in that direction and they were just on a standard guard mission. In fact, it should have been ending soon. Sotero keyed in their communications frequency and said. "Selac, you there?"

This time it took a few seconds, but a voice replied soon enough. "_Yeah…" _

The voice sounded odd to Sotero, almost as if Selac were clearing his throat. "You alright Sel? You sound weird."

"_Yeah, caught me sneaking a bite."_

Sotero raised his eyebrows. Selac wasn't addicted. "Hope that's not our profits you're eating."

_"Nah, had some crap in the village, They couldn't cook a Quat if their life depended on it."_

Sotero chuckled, that sounded more like his cynical underling. "Tell me about it, I can only stomach that stew with those tubers."

_"Yeah that's not too bad. You need something?"_

"Yeah, you see over by the northern hill?" Eyeing the light on the screen again, Sotero said. "The little light on top?"

_"Uhh… yeah I do now. What is that?"_

"Don't know. Go and check it out. Take your team and once you're done, get whatever you want from the village."

Selac's voice came through suggestive, just as Anna'Keen had been. "_Whatever I want?_ "

"Ha-ha, if you insist."

Sotero cut communications, and stared at the light on the hill again. It could be a small fire in the distance, or maybe one of the villagers testing the light emitting devices they'd wowed them with. But something was peculiar about this and Sotero just couldn't figure it out.

Anna'Keen's voice came back a few seconds later over the speaker, hushed and almost scared. "_Sotero! There's someone here!"_

Sotero turned his attention to the camera near the space between the village and the staff cannon - he tried to see where Anna'Keen was. "What? What is it!"

_"Tau'ri… it's got to be. They're in black and heading to the staff cannon. They must have flown in on a Tel'tak."_

Sotero winced and cursed aloud in Goa'uld, he'd always felt it was stronger than his own language, and the Chappa'ai's language translation never deciphered his feelings properly. "So stop them! You've got a gun, use it!"

_"There's **four** of them, they're heavily armed. I think they're actually heading to the village, they just took out the guard at the staff cannon."_

Sotero again cursed when he turned his attention to the staff cannon camera. He could now easily see the guard lying on the floor with a pool of blood seeping from his neck. He couldn't see the Tau'ri; they must have already passed by the light of the camera. "I'm sending reinforcements to the village. Tell them anyone who helps the Tau'ri is getting thrown through the Chappa'ai backwards and into the abyss!

Anna'Keen didn't reply, and Sotero turned attention to the wide communications channel. "All personnel, the Tau'ri are here. They're probably going to try and get the village to help them fight us, shoot as many as you have to, but I want the Tau'ri alive if possible. Everyone to the village _now! _You too Selac! Forget the light!"

A crescendo of affirmatives, and Sotero couldn't help but feel pleased, he only had around twenty people total working this base, but even the Tau'ri with their weapons couldn't take on that many people. With his own people armed with Zat'ni'ke'tels and Staff Weapons, the Tau'ri were hard pressed even with their technology. They may have had the training of their planet, but the Lucian Alliance consisted of pirates and criminals, people who knew how to fight dirty.

Sotero watched on the monitors, his small force moved effectively and quickly from the hanger base to the outskirts of the village, all hiding and staying quiet.

He was concentrating so hard that Sotero didn't even notice the slight sound of footsteps behind him, and only heard the beginning of a rush of air next to him before he fell to the floor.

A rifle butt had cracked against his shoulder drawing him down. He was unarmed, and apparently the Tau'ri were sneakier than he'd expected. Feeling an arm wrap around his neck, Sotero cried out in pain. He could barely make out his attacker behind him by looking at the reflection in the screen.

"You Sotero?"

A man with no discernable accent but an odd dialect. "Yes…!" Cooperation was the only chance for survival, the Tau'ri were strong, but they had the fatal flaw of mercy, if Sotero helped them do whatever it was they were here to do, they'd let him go or at worst give him to the Jaffa. He'd escaped Jaffa Prisons, though that wasn't that hard nowadays.

"Well a little birdy told me you've got the command codes to that Tel'tak parked outside."

"That's _it?_" Sotero couldn't believe it! They were after his _Tel'tak!_ "Let me go and it's all yours!"

The man snorted and tightened his grip, Sotero choked under the strain as he struggled on his knees, but the Tau'ri was ruthlessly strong. "Give it up, or the next time you look down you'll see your ass instead of your dick."

Sotero took the rather strange and uncouth threat seriously. The Tau'ri had killed hundreds if not thousands of Jaffa, and blowing up Kassa Trains they'd killed quite a few Alliance mercenaries. He was just a flunkie in their eyes and easily disposable. Sotero moved one hand slowly and pointed to where his command console was. "There! It's already unlocked!"

The man holding him grunted, and a moment later another skinnier man moved over. He was dressed in black Tau'ri fatigues camouflaging him well in the night sky. He had a beard and moved too quickly for Sotero to note much other than a war weary face. The skinny man quickly tapped a few buttons on the console, and Sotero heard the distinct sounds the computer made when information was brought up. The skinnier man turned and Sotero could see his short brown hair, well trimmed beard and blue eyes. "Right, I've got it. Once StirFry and James are back, we'll blow this dump."

"_Bitchin'_." The Tau'ri's idea of language was quite strange to Sotero, but he said nothing.

The skinnier man cracked his knuckles by forming a fist and clicked his radio. "Light it up, Stirfry."

Sotero watched through the windows of the hanger tower as on the hill far away, too far to see the little light, an intensely bright shot flew up into the air, and split apart into raining shards of flame… right top of the Kassa. He gasped and involuntarily moved, drawing even more strength from the man behind him. After struggling enough to get his voice back, Sotero cursed. "You _fools_, now my men will kill you all. Starting with whoever set that field aflame!"

The skinnier man chuckled, and then said in a gruff Voice. "Oh, you mean Selac and his little team you sent out? They talked _just _as fast as you did… _two hours ago._"

Sotero couldn't believe it, how had the Tau'ri done this? They must have had dozens of men around to do this so quietly. "Then why do you want the Tel'Tak…? Why are you…"

A familiar voice sounded out behind him having just entered the room. Sotero felt a hand pat his shoulder as it said. "Because you're the easiest target, and nobody'll miss ya buddy."

Panic crept into Sotero's heart. "_A-Anna'Keen?_ Wha… What are you _doing?"_

Anna'Keen moved around to sit on Sotero's chair, and spun it around to face the Lucian Alliance lieutenant. His olive skin and devious smile hadn't changed one bit. He was holding a strange looking Tau'ri weapon with a long smooth cylinder sticking out the barrel. "Cuz that's my job, and I've been doing it for so long I'm better than the scum who really do it."

Sotero could hear the distinct report of rapid fire projectile weapons outside. It sounded like a dozen or more were firing as well as Staff and Zat fire. He'd truly been caught in an inescapable trap. His men were likely getting slaughtered, and there was nothing he could do about it. "I'll give you the Tel'tak, just let me go… _please."_

Anna'Keen smirked and shot a glance at the skinnier man before he replied. "Okay. Let's just get you down there." Anna'Keen then looked up to the man holding Sotero. "Try not to break his neck on the way down, would you?"

Sotero's captor chuckled, and pulled him to his feet. "Alright, come on ya _kurvo jedna._ Walk!"

Still not getting a look at his captor, Sotero was led out of his control room and into the hallway leading to the stairs. He could trip on purpose and at least wound his captor, but they'd just shoot him in retaliation, He'd heard that the some of the Tau'ri infiltration teams liked to terrorize in order to get what they needed, but they never executed prisoners. That was the only hope left in Sotero.

The stairs were a little confusing, but they quickly got to the ground floor and walked past empty racks of weapons and other assorted equipments. Most - if not all of it - was loaded onto a cart that would barely squeeze through the doorway at the far end of the room.

Sotero could feel the heat and wind from the fires that raged outside- from even inside and through the open doorway. He heard more gunfire outside and prayed that whoever was shooting out there didn't decide to take a shot at him.

Anna'Keen and the skinny man flanked him on both sides. The skinny man had a long and alien looking rifle, exactly the kind of thing he'd expect from the Tau'ri. It was long and mean looking, and even had a blade attached to the front. The skinny man was obviously expecting combat both at range and up close.

Sotero was near the edge of the doorway when he saw three of his people running towards the fire, or rather around it to reach the hangar tower. They saw him and instantly raised their weapons, but before they could fire, a dozen small explosions raked across them. Blood spewed out and they shook in place before falling to the ground screaming.

Another burst of fire, this one from the skinny man beside them and their screams were silenced. Sotero couldn't believe it, but at the same time, he'd have done it too. Sotero could feel his sweat mixing with that from the arm of his captor in the tremendous heat.

The village was in shambles and Sotero had no doubt that the Tau'ri were already helping them. It's what they did.

A few more kicks to his backside, and thirty seconds later, they were at the Tel'tak. Sotero watched nervously as the skinny man input the command codes into the doorway pad and the airlock opened. The man cried out in a strange dialect, and then turned to Sotero and his captor. "Get him inside, get him to start it up and wait for StirFry, I'll get the package."

The skinny man took off into the night, and Sotero was led into the Tel'tak, He went over the possibilities in his head, he could probably disable the inertial dampeners and the artificial gravity, then take off and hope that being seated meant he wouldn't pass out from the crushing forces. But that was too risky, and he needed to stay alive.

He engaged most of the systems, but kept it all very still. One false move and they'd kill him no doubt, or at least hurt him more. Sotero knew he was likely the only survivor of this surprise attack and he needed to let the Alliance know… once he'd gotten through the Chappa'ai.

The one they called "StirFry" arrived soon after. To his surprise, it was an attractive young woman with olive skin and long flowing reddish brown hair. She wore black clothing festooned with pouches and equipment. She also held a very strange looking weapon that looked almost like a larger, longer Zat. Stirfry was as fiery in spirit as her angry facial expression showed. "Get this _asshole_ outta here!"

The man holding Sotero chuckled again and deadpanned. "Just keeping your seat warm. Wouldn't want that ass getting anymore frostbite."

StirFry gave a condescending look and hissed. "Fuck off, Drake. Now get him outta here before I rip out your tongue and toss your salad with it."

Sotero didn't understand the action, but 'Drake' behind him again laughed. "Only half bad. See? You're already warmin' up to me."

StirFry rolled her eyes and pushed both Sotero and Drake aside to take the helm. Drake pulled Sotero back into the cargo compartment where Anna'Keen and the skinny man were now loading stolen equipment next to a large shipment of weapons grade Naquadah. Drake held Sotero near the personnel hatch in the rear of the craft, not too far from where the cargo area was.

Now Sotero understood, the Tau'ri were after supplies. Likely trying to build up resistance against the Ori. Drake held onto Sotero for the entire time, almost ten minutes of staring out the open cargo doors to the field of burning Kassa, the inevitable layers of ash over the area. All that mattered was getting free, and then getting someplace he could hide out from the Alliance. They'd never forgive losing such a valuable asset.

Once they were done loading, Anna'Keen walked past and completely ignored Sotero despite a look in his direction. Sotero was wondering what would happen now.

The skinny man called out as he closed the main cargo doors and moved over. "James! Tell Stir-Fry to get us going! Circle the fields for a bit and then take us back to Alpha Site!"

Sotero understood now, 'Anna'Keen' or rather James had been a spy all along, for three months he'd acted _exactly_ as an Alliance member would, all the 'morally reprehensible' things that the tribe elders and Jaffa found criminal… the Tau'ri must have been willing to go far to attack the Alliance to justify what James had done in those three months. "Are you going to take me? Or leave me here?"

The skinny man, now up close and in detail smirked deviously. He wore a beard around his lips, and the hint of age in his face showed through a few hardened lines. Drake muttered over Sotero's ear. "Whaddya say, Colonel? Just get rid of him?"

Sotero was getting _really _worried now. He was fully expecting a knife in the back or across the throat now, just a quick death. Instead, the Colonel in front of him shrugged. "He's a stowaway on our new ship." He looked at Sotero straight in the eyes. "On my planet, we'd throw stowaways on our boats into the water." Turning to the field, the Colonel took a deep breath of the heated air. "Once we're airborne, kick him off."

Sotero struggled against his captor and fought with everything he had - screaming as he tried to bite Drake's arm around his neck. Drake easily overpowered him and flipped his arms to loop around Sotero in a full nelson hold.

The Tel'tak was suddenly much smaller than he'd remembered and the open door with wind gusting through loomed ahead. Drake chuckled again and held Sotero right up to the open personnel door. "You got it, Colonel!"

The fighting continued, and Sotero tried to kick back to try and free himself. But it was too late, and the Tel'tak took off from the ground. He could feel his shoulders popping out Drake was holding him so hard.

The air was rushing in from the door, and the heat from the fire of the burning Kassa field below flowed into his lungs as he tried to muster enough strength to escape. It didn't matter anymore though, as Drake pulled him back deeper into the Tel'tak, and then let him go.

Turning to face Drake, he saw him for the first time, a rugged looking man with an angry face. Drake brought his rifle up and smacked it against Sotero's face pushing him back towards the door amidst a spray of bloodstained saliva. Sotero managed to grab a desperate hold of the sides, barely hanging on. "_No please!" _He was right over the burning fields of Kassa, he looked over his shoulder to the scorching inferno below and the tremendous updraft. Even at this height, he'd survive the fall and it wouldn't be a quick death.

Drake ignored him and brought the buttstock down again, this time against Sotero's right hand breaking three of his fingers and loosening Sotero' hold on the Tel'tak's door jamb.

Sotero flailed about, half his body hanging out of the hovering craft, the other barely holding onto the Tel'tak, he begged for mercy, to spare his life, but Drake instead just raised a handgun and fired a trio of shots into Sotero's upper chest. The flashes blinded Sotero who finally lost grip and slipped back into the warmed night air. The shots were too high to hit his heart, and Sotero felt the odd rush of endorphins as he fell from several hundred meters in the sky into a funeral pyre worthy of a Viking King.

Drake closed the door to the Tel'tak, and silently the small craft took off, the occupant's mission successful.

**

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**- Location: Deep Space -**

**- Somewhere near 'Alpha Site' -**

**- February 19th, 2007 -**

**-3:25pm Local Time -**

**

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**

It had taken almost half a day to get to the Alpha Site, and Colonel Malcolm Leach was getting antsy. Nobody had expected them to survive their infiltration mission, but a combination of distraction, infiltration and subversion along with their inside man's knowledge of the base and its security let them hit fast and hard. It was likely the Lucian Alliance would think it was a coordinated strike from an entire platoon.

That's what Malcolm enjoyed, using superior tactics, training, and a hell of a lot of creative uses for everyday things to win the battle decisively. He'd also found that his team worked well together despite only having formed recently. These little pinpricks against the Lucian Alliance would serve well to keep them off balance, and they were enough for the long term plans to destabilize them to come to fruition.

At the helm, Captain Rachel Friedman called out. "Colonel! We're approaching the Alpha Site!"

Malcolm got off his makeshift cot and strolled towards the control panel ahead. The other two members of his team, Captain Dan Drake and Santiago "James" Garcia were resting as well, both deserved it after such a long mission.

It had taken hours to get everything ready. All details had been accounted for; the security cameras, the village's possible reaction, the sabotage of the ground based Staff Cannon, even re-purposing their flare gun into a makeshift incendiary mortar for the Kassa. He would have loved to take the credit, but Rachel had given the brilliant idea when Drake had suggested using the flares along with butane to light the field.

Malcolm watched as the craft came out of the blue of hyperspace in orbit of the big blue and green planet he'd been expecting. He tapped the communications button on the helm as he stood next to Rachel and announced. "This is Omega Team, do you read?"

Nothing but static - Rachel craned her neck up to Malcolm and asked. "Maybe we're not in range. These cargo ships are supposed to be junk."

Malcolm motioned down to the planet. "Get us down there, cloak the ship." He wasn't wiliing to make an assumption from this range.

**-3:35pm-**

Dan realized that what he'd seen on the way down after being woken wasn't a dream, and it wasn't a joke.

Standing outside the cargo ship's doors he could see that the Alpha Site was gone - the entire complex had been smashed into pieces.

Malcolm moved ahead and looked at the ground. He used his gloved hands to inspect the loose dirt. James did the same, but closer in to the ashy ruins. Rachel stood still, seemingly unmoved by the sight.

Dan realized just how utterly screwed they were. The complex had become home in the last year, and even more, it had the Stargate… There was no way they were digging through all those tons of rock to reach the Stargate on the 3rd sublevel. From the looks of it, it had almost been a controlled demolition.

As James moved closer, Malcolm suddenly got up and pulled him back - even in the beautiful forest and side lake of this area, Dan couldn't help but feel abandoned.

None of them said anything for almost an hour, the four of them splitting up and going around on their own. Each searched and pulled at the rubble looking for any evidence, and eventually they regrouped in front of the cargo ship, Malcolm summarized their situation succinctly. "They're dead, there's combat boot prints, blood and spent brass all over the place. The SGC must have found them."

That meant trouble; that meant getting shot or dragged back to Earth to spend the rest of their lives in Area 51. None of the four wanted to experience that.

Malcolm continued - his spirit undaunted. "Sod em. If they can't hold a simple base, the tossers deserve it. Fuck Franklin, fuck Ridge, and fuck the SGC. _We're_ alive and _we're_ not stupid enough to get caught out by those SGC do-gooders." Malcolm was used to giving these speeches - morale was _very_ important in his former and current line of work. "If a load of backwards thinking pirates and criminals can form the Lucian Alliance, how much more do you think we can do if we fight for it?

Malcolm looked at each of his team and wasn't too surprised to see that they weren't disagreeing. James simply gave a nod of consent - this was his style of fighting anyway. Rachel was speechless, but Malcolm knew she'd follow orders. Drake on the other hand seemed uncharacteristically cautious, and his words belied his expression. "All we've got is a Cargo Ship, some shit Jaffa weapons and a few spare mags. What _can_ we do?"

James scoffed at the question. "I made a lot of contacts in the Alliance - I can get us some work, we'll have to lose the 'Tau'ri' getup for awhile but there's still plenty of non-Alliance mercs out there, and we still might find the backup cache here." He turned to Malcolm. "You got any problem with being a hitman for awhile?"

Malcolm grunted in annoyance. "I've been a _hitman_ for longer than you've been messing your trousers. What's a few more Jaffa and Goa'uld? Tossers deserve it far as I'm concerned."

Rachel sighed as she turned back to the Cargo swallowed audibly and finally spoke. "So… it's just like that, huh? We're freelance. Guess all those savings went to waste." Before the others could say anything else, Rachel turned back to them and spat. "Screw it, not like we can go back to Earth anyway. Not like I want to. I'm in. I say we show the Jaffa and Lucian Alliance what _real_ soldiers can do."

Rachel stuck her fist out, calling for a consensus. Malcolm quickly took her wrist in his fist, and James did the same forming three parts of a square. "I'm in."

"Nothing we're better at."

All three looked at Drake, who after a moment's hesitation, stuck his fist in too completing the square. "Aw fuck it, never wanted to live forever anyway."

* * *

**A/N:** Each chapter alternates emphasis between SG-1 and the surviving Redscope team, next chapter has strong SG-1 focus.

For the imaginative of you out there, here's the 'actor' faces i have for the Redscope team.

Malcolm Leach - Gary Oldman

Rachel Friedman - Moran Atias

Dan Drake - Jamie Bamber

James Garcia - John Leguizamo

**Remember to set up you alerts! I'll be updating this over a few weeks :)**


	2. CSI: SGC

**Chapter 2: CSI: SGC**

* * *

**- Planet: P2X-3YZ (Earth) -**

**- Stargate Command -**

**- February 27th 2007 -**

**- 12:14pm Local Time -**

* * *

"Go ahead Colonel, describe everything that happened once you made it to the planet."

Colonel Reynolds sat in the briefing room table along with SG-1, the rest of his team, General Landry and Dr. Lam. He nodded and described his mission. "My team left here this morning. We've been keeping an eye on that Lucian Alliance base since they were enslaving a pre-industrial people and using them to grow and test their Kassa. The Free Jaffa were planning to stage an attack, but they let us take over since it's closer to our off world assets."

"Pardon-"Daniel interjected. "-off-world assets? You mean our research facilities right?"

Landry nodded - Reynolds could see he obviously didn't want to lose focus. "Yes, Doctor Jackson. We've got several small research facilities on various projects being built, and we'd rather not draw the Lucian Alliance's attention." He turned to Reynolds "Go on, Colonel."

Reynolds continued. "We were on a scouting mission - move in, assess the situation, and gather intelligence for a potential future assault. It was supposed to be quick, clean, no contact with the LA or the natives."

Vala gave Reynolds a silly grin. "That extra crispy criminal from Collust you brought back tells me that didn't _quite_ work out."

Captain Alicia Vega grimaced and made a slightly disgusted sound. "Eugh, try lifting it onto a MALP."

A quick look from General Landry silenced the young Captain, and Reynolds continued. "Actually no, we didn't kill him. Our last recon on February 12th had the base running smoothly, no problems and we got in and out quietly." Reynolds gulped involuntarily, "The base is _gone_ now, burned and hulled out. When we got there, the natives were waiting with a bunch of Jaffa Weapons."

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Did you have to defend yourself?"

Reynolds shook his head,- Asking whether one had killed was always a hard question.. "Thank god no, they couldn't figure out how to shoot but there were a lot of them. For a minute there we were ready to fight but we managed to break the ice _gently_. They were saying how the _'gods'_ were at war and the _'demons'_ had been burned by the flames of a vengeful angel of death." Seeing Cam's shocked expression, Reynolds added with his hands up in defense. "Their words. Not mine."

Cam scratched his chin. "Sounds like Grandma's old neighbor after communion."

Teal'c dropped the fear in everyone's mind with his steely voice. "The natives of that planet may not comprehend what they may have seen. The flames could indicate possible Ori involvement."

Reynolds nodded, but shrugged his shoulders in hesitance. "Maybe, they said flame came down from the heavens and burned away the _'food of the gods'_. Sounds like an orbital strike if you ask me."

The prospect was worrying, and General Landry continued the debriefing. "What about the body? Why did you bring that back with you?"

Major Teldy replied; Reynolds could see she was still a little queasy. "We found it in the field of burned Kassa. The villagers told us to stay away since it was the resting place of a demon-god. I'm no CSI, but that body was shot before it burned, sir."

Landry grit his teeth together and Reynolds could almost see the clash of thoughts in the general's mind. It _was_ very confusing and there was a high need for reliable information. "Do you think it's a threat if we head back to the planet, Colonel? We need to find out what happened to that base."

Reynolds moved his jaw around for a moment, but then shook his head. "No sir, we managed to calm them down, but my team aren't forensic specialists. The natives are in bad shape too, whatever attacked the LA also did a lot of damage to their village… which was already in bad shape from what the LA did to them."

The room was quiet, but it only took a few seconds for Landry to decide. "Take whatever you need. SG-1 will have command authority, but you know these people already. Get your teams and any equipment you need ready in four hours. With any luck, Dr. Lam might have a preliminary report for you on that body." Getting up, General Landry nodded once curtly. "Dismissed."

* * *

**- Planet: P1C-T4R (Eldross) -**

**- Free Jaffa Settlement -**

**- February 27th 2007 -**

**- 3:26 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Rachel had grown to despise this job. She'd trained extensively since her _long _stint in the IDF with these covert operations, but all it took was one mistake and her cover was blown.

She also hated the fact that every Jaffa settlement seemed to take great joy in only making clothes that showed off a woman's curves. She wasn't ashamed of her natural good looks, but it brought back harsh memories, things she had forced deep down into her psyche.

The bar on this backwater planet was pretty much the same as she'd find on Earth, except the beer was homebrewed, strong, and the cups were made of wood. If she wasn't careful it would splinter on her lips. The people giving her lecherous looks weren't under the threat of potential police action which gave her pause.

The bright and almost quaint forest around them belied the dangerous nature of this area. Then again, she had James' silenced P229 inside the loose holster strapped to her left thigh, and in an instant she could take it out and get away.

Rachel maintained her poise despite the eyes on her. After a few sips of the grog like beverage, she saw their contact coming closer.

He was tall with fair skin, and the distinct tattoo of a former servant of Ba'al on his forehead. A beard along with a few scars on his face gave him a hardened warrior look, along with the Zat he had strapped to his hip. Rachel gave a slight nod to him, keeping one hand under the table fingering her sidearm.

The Jaffa walked up to her without fear. "They told me to look for a Tau'ri with curly hair; they said nothing about a woman."

Rachel didn't lose any tact, these men were just like home. "They also didn't tell you that I've got no problem shoving my fist into your pouch and ripping your spine out."

The Jaffa snorted and then sat down. "Good, I don't work for weaklings." He shifted in his seat and said. "My name is Al'Mack, Our mutual acquaintance told me that you'll be needing a reference, someone to help you with your dealings and contracts within our organization. I don't waste time so don't bother bargaining, I'll want a hundred pounds of refined Naquadah or I walk out the door."

Rachel raised an eyebrow, but then pulled a thin strip out of her shirt pocket. Around them, several people began to eye her since a strip of refined Naquadah usually meant more was around. "Not a problem."

Al'Mack smiled, and felt and rubbed the strip between his fingers before looking back at Rachel. Rachel could tell he would have accepted less, but that wasn't the point. "I look forward to working with you."

Rachel didn't take any chances and drew her pistol. With the long silencer attached, she poked Al'Mack on his inner thigh. "Tretonin'll keep you alive, but I can make sure you won't enjoy it. Just do your job." She drew back the hammer on the gun, loud enough that several people around heard and shifted their looks away, Whoever this Tau'ri was, she certainly had daring.

* * *

**- Planet: P6N-1X8 (Collust) -**

**- Skin'ar Village, Former LA Outpost -**

**- February 27th 2007 -**

**- 4:25 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Colonel Cameron Mitchell took a few deep breaths as he stepped out onto the dry and hard ground of the area around the gate on Collust,. "Smells like Arizona."

Sam beside him snorted. "I'd say Nevada, but I guess that works."

Reynolds stepped forward as well, and motioned over to the village. "It's this way."

Sam gave Cam a sly grin as they moved ahead. She whispered "Ever since he got promoted, he's been acting more like you. I think you've got a fan."

Cam grumbled. "Long as he don't steal any of my lines."

Sam shook her head idly in amusement and took in the sights. The vista was definitely not what Sam had expected, there was a clear view of the entire area since it was lower than the Gate. Sam could see a thin layer of what looked like ash on the floor, which she scraped away with her foot. What remained of the Lucian Alliance base was off in the distance, a thin haze permeating the air.

A two story tower dominated the area, with a large hangar or warehouse at the end of a long flat terrain that was likely a landing pad. A trio of smaller round warehouses sat next to the blackened field of burnt Kassa. There was also a staff cannon emplacement pointed straight upwards, but it looked inactive.

SG-1 and SG-2 filed through the Stargate onto the planet a full team of medics and engineers in tow. Accompanying them was a squad of marine escorts,

Not too surprisingly, a villager in light leather clothing came up to the group holding a Staff Weapon, albeit backwards. "Who are you! Don't come any closer!"

Reynolds held one hand up and moved forward, "It's alright! We're not here to hurt you!" He looked over to Cam and signaled him to lower his weapon. Sam watched as Teal'c cautiously flanked to the side, but kept his P90 down.

The villager moved forward, his weapon still raised; but obviously not ready to fire. Reynolds moved forward and began to speak privately with him while the twenty-plus crew waited behind.

Sam turned to Daniel and muttered. "Look, the whole area around the base is scorched. I don't think the Ori would have done this."

Daniel shook his head. "Not unless they angered a Prior, but that's doubtful, they like to make a spectacle whenever they 'purify' someone. You know, gather the village around and show off their barbeque skills. They also would have _stayed._"

Vala visibly shuddered ever so slightly and Sam decided to ignore rather than pry. Instead, she changed the topic quickly. "Teal'c's found something."

Cam had moved up ahead to introduce himself along with Reynolds, Sam momentarily was thankful that even though Cam technically outranked her, they still shared control of the team. As they approached Teal'c, the Jaffa turned and nodded. "The ground is too barren to track prints from before this ash. I believe it is burnt Kassa. We should be careful."

Vala nodded as she took some of the ash in her fingers, then gave it a tiny taste. Daniel grimaced and winced. "Do you _have_ to do that?"

Vala smiled coyly and offered her fingers which still had some ash on it to Daniel. "Would you like a taste?" Sam tried to suppress her smile, but seeing the others do the same, and Daniel give Vala the _'another word and I'm gagging you and it won't be fun' _look, Vala explained. "Kassa only has a narcotic effect when it's metabolized, that's why you eat it raw. When it's burned, it's actually similar to those Corn Nuts Walter loves."

Sam snorted. "Probably helps his digestion."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "I believe that was more information than was needed, Colonel Carter." He didn't wait for the chuckle, and instead turned to the base behind him. "Shall we wait for Colonel Reynolds and his team?"

Sam turned back to where Cam, Reynolds, and now Captain Vega were talking with the armed villager. She noticed that many other villagers had hidden among the rocks around them, obviously terrified of the incoming people. "Yeah, we shouldn't make any hostile moves."

It took several minutes, and to Sam's mild surprise, Cam literally showed the villager how he was holding the staff wrong. His voice carried over the fields. "Fire in the hole!"

The Villager fired the staff at a handy rock nearby, and the bolt of plasma shot out and left a smokey crater. The villager seemed terrified, but Cam and Reynolds managed to calm him down.

Sam kept control of the rest of the team though, keeping the Marines from freaking out, and Teal'c from subsconciously flanking.

After the display, Cam and Vega began to head towards them while Reynolds and the rest of his team walked over to the engineering and medical team along with the villager. Cam approached and nodded. "We're clear. Once we explained who we were and who the army behind us was, they softened up."

Captain Vega smiled cheekily. "That and you showed them how to kill us. But it wouldn't be a trip through the stargate without someone shooting at us, sir." Sam noticed how Vega had a totally innocent smile, proving just how evil she could really be.

Cam gave Vega a silent stare, and then explained to a dumbfounded Sam. "Look, they didn't trust us enough to accept our help. I showed em how to use a staff, so he knows we're not here to take over. Kinda stupid for conquerors to show their prey how to kill 'em, It worked didn't it?"

Seeing the villager now heading to the others and explaining how the weapon worked, Sam grimaced. "Getting shot _hurts_, Cam."

Cam rolled his eyes and motioned towards the fields behind them where the burnt out hangar remained. "How 'bout you just show us where you found the body, Vega?"

Captain Vega chuckled and motioned with her head. "Follow me."

SG-1 watched as the engineering and medical teams moved ahead now with the remainder of SG-2 and the Marines as escort. They then turned around and headed out towards the burnt out husk of the Lucian Alliance base.

Vega led them, her P90 bouncing softly off her side as she walked, Sam immediately noticed how she watched everything around the area and kept a watchful eye on the surroundings. There likely weren't any hostiles in the area, but she appreciated the attention to detail.

Daniel and Vala had moved to the side, examining the silo like buildings while Teal'c headed straight for the tower. Vega on the other hand looked annoyed with the rest, but with Cam waving her annoyance off, she continued to move ahead. Cam mused to himself that the Captain was still a hothead from the deserts of Iraq even after 2 years.

Sam opted to stick with Teal'c, and caught up to him just as they were reaching the tower. "You recognize anything Teal'c?"

Teal'c looked up at the tower, and nodded. "This is a standard Goa'uld design for a small outpost. It is simple to maintain and run, there were perhaps no more than thirty people on this base given the accommodations this facility would provide."

Sam listened, but also looked down towards the front of the tower where a pair of double doors stood wide open. "Then where are they?" She knelt down and brushed away the thin layer of ash, revealing a rusty red dirt beneath. She winced and turned to Teal'c. "You think it's blood?"

Teal'c eyed it and used his foot brushed away a larger segment of the ash. The rust colored dirt ended a few feet away and revealed a large splotch on the ground. "Indeed. I would say more than one person met their fate here." He furrowed his brow in confusion. "Strange. Staff weapons do not cause wounds that would bleed this much. It is possible that whoever died here was stabbed, or shot with a projectile weapon."

Sam rubbed her chin – A few memories came back, but she decided to keep it in the back of her head. "Maybe we weren't the only ones keeping tabs on them. We know the Ori are pushing a lot of cultures around, some might be raiding Lucian Alliance bases to steal supplies."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow in surprise. "That does not seem likely. There is very little cover in this general area, and the villagers would have noticed a force large enough to overwhelm it."

"Maybe it was a smaller team, special forces." Sam got up from her crouched position and motioned to the door. "After you?"

Teal'c bowed his head and graciously extended his hand. "Ladies first."

Sam laughed out loud in amusement, Teal'c had a strange sense of humor, but she highly appreciated it. "_Thanks_, you're the first person to call me a lady in _quite_ awhile."

**-4:38 pm-**

"We found the body here, lots of broken bones, lots of blood. He didn't die quick that's for sure."

Cam grimaced as he looked down at the burnt Kassa field he was standing in. He wondered if maybe it aerosolized and he'd get an unhealthy obsession over corn when he got back home. "Looks like it."

On the ground in front of them, a large patch of less burnt, but eerily red Kassa remained. It had been crushed and from the looks of it, the man had just materialized here. "How'd you say the villager you talked to explain it?"

Vega got up from her kneeling position where the body was found, and sighed. "She wasn't exactly forthcoming. It was a little girl. She said she saw the 'demon god' fall from his chariot, slain by the 'death angels' that took out the base." She held up her hands. "Look, I just bribed her with some chocolate. I joined the Air Force to get _away_ from my brothers and sisters so if you know someone better with kids be my guest."

Cam didn't care much that she didn't use the honorific in private. He'd found that while Vega didn't have a _healthy_ respect for the chain of command, she respected those who earned it. He knew she was just being honest. "Anything else?"

Vega shook her head, but pointed out to the side where the silos were. "Just one thing, she said that the death angels could rain fire down like water; Said it came from that hill there."

Seeing both Daniel and Vala heading in that direction, Cam clicked his radio. "Hey, Jackson, Vala, keep an eye out for anything that can 'rain fire'. We've got eyewitnesses who saw something from that hill over there."

Before Daniel or Vala could reply, Vega cautioned. "All due respect, you think they'll be _able_ to find anything?"

Cam rolled his eyes. Vega was still young and feisty. She reminded him of a certain recently promoted Lieutenant Colonel he'd known in his youth. "Trust me, they'll find it."

Vega relented, though Cam could see she was less than satisfied. Cam ignored it - she'd become less hostile since their last mission together, but she still had that attitude and edge that would keep her from getting promoted for a _long_ time.

Daniel's voice came through moments later. "_Got it Cam. We'll keep an eye open. Sounds like some kind of mortar."_

Cam couldn't fight his smirk upon seeing Vega's eyebrows rise at Daniel's educated guess on the cause of the 'fire rain'.

**-4:49 pm-**

Daniel rolled his eyes for what seemed the millionth time as Vala bounced around and generally spent about two picoseconds studying the area.

"You know, if you keep doing that, your eyes will go backwards in your skull."

Apparently he wasn't the only one to notice. He replied sarcastically. "Oh _I'm_ _sorry_, I'm trying to keep an eye out for whatever _rained fire_ down on the Kassa. Forgive me if your dancing around is _distracting_ me."

Vala stopped, turned to Daniel and gave him a sultry smile. "So… you like my 'dancing'?"

Daniel gave her a stony stare, and resisted rolling his eyes again. "Well you _are_ the only thing moving around here. I'm actually kinda surprised there aren't many animals around."

Vala screwed her face looked around the hillside where they were standing, and said "What are you talking about? There're birds all over, and I saw a few squirrel things running around."

Daniel raised his eyebrows and looked around suddenly worried that he'd been so distracted by Vala that something had snuck up on him. "Really? Where?"

Vala quickly turned and pointed. "There. And there's another one down there."

Sure enough, once Daniel focused, he saw them through his glasses. The squirrel creature was roughly ferret sized, but didn't come very high off the ground. It had a large bushy tail though that resembled a tumbleweed. "Oh. Well that's strange. It's weird that the sarcophagus's I've been in never fixed this nearsightedness for good."

Vala shook her head and moved over to hook her arm around Daniel's. "No it isn't, unless you reprogram a sarcophagus to exact measurements, it'll usually just heal you to whatever your body naturally wants to be."

Holding Vala in place, Daniel turned to her. "What? What do you mean?"

Vala growled in annoyance but also noticed a glint in the hillside not far. "The sarcophagus works by making your cells divide and reproduce using the nutrients in your body. I know you haven't used it often, but ever notice you get hungry after? And itch like you've been danced on by mosquitoes where you got hurt?"

Daniel blinked a few times, then turned away in a stunned expression. "Actually yeah. That makes sense given that it's based off the Tel'chak device." Feeling Vala tug him along, Daniel said. "What _is_ it? I don't think those squirrels will bother us."

Vala rolled her own eyes in full view of Daniel and pointed down the hill. "There's something shiny down there. It might be what we're looking for."

Now fed up, Daniel had to ask. "How can you _see_ all this stuff? You're pointing to the middle of nowhere two hundred feet away."

Vala smiled, and tapped her nose.

**-5:12 pm-**

Sam tried to piece together the remains of the Goa'uld computer console at the top of the tower – she sat on what was left of something that had apparently been a command chair. The barracks below were empty as were the equipment racks. Whatever had happened had been total and little if anything was left. "Most of these computers are too damaged to do anything, Looks like they've been bludgeoned to death."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "I have noticed that many times you will refer to computers or electronic equipment much the same way as you would a person."

Sam felt a smile coming on, and sighing, she pulled her PDA out of her Tacvest pocket in the hopes of recovering some data. "It's just something I do. A lot of people who…" Turning to Teal'c, she could see that he was giving her a mild grin. She realized what he had actually meant. "You already knew that didn't you?"

Teal'c shrugged. "Indeed, though it is reassuring you say the same."

Sam couldn't help but smile, she'd had plenty of time to think about what had happened, and Teal'c seemed more… _caring_ about all of them. She couldn't exactly understand, but the idea that he'd known them fifty years longer than they him gave it a strange assuredness. "I guess I'm at a disadvantage - we all are."

Teal'c just smiled slightly and nodded.

**-5:15 pm-**

Seeing the little girl Vega pointed to, Cam kept his distance as they approached the center of the village where the SGC personnel were now giving care and medical attention. An array of freshly filled graves stood several dozen meters away in a field, a somber reminder of the village's recent problems .

The girl was on her own though, few people if any were giving her attention.

"Reika?" The young girl turned from her seated position on the rocks by the village fire, and shirked away hiding behind her knees. Alicia sighed and slowed her approach, with one hand telling Cam to keep back. "It's me… Alicia. Remember me?"

She couldn't have been more than 10 years old, the leather animal skins she wore for clothing looked a bit small, almost as if she were outgrowing them. Her dirty blonde hair was unkempt, it looked as though she hadn't brushed it in a week. Cam kept his smile genuine and tried to appear non-threatening, it was harder than it sounded given that he was in pretty unknown territory here.

Reika finally replied as Alicia came closer and knelt down next to her. Her voice was soft and very scared. "You came back."

Alicia nodded, and sitting down beside Reika, she reached for her canteen. "Yeah. Told you I'd be back." Unscrewing the top, she offered the water to the girl. Reika hesitated, but eventually took the canteen and with a shaky hand, took a sip.

Cam was careful, children were always a finicky subject and he kept his distance while Alicia worked. Reika had obviously been traumatized, and Cam didn't really know what to feel. A part wanted to run, another wanted to try and help. A stronger part wanted to _hurt_ the people who'd hurt her, that's what he was good at.

Reika finished drinking, and politely handed the canteen back. She looked up at Cam who had moved over to face the little girl albeit from across the fire. "Are you here to help us?"

Cam held his expression inside, and answered calmly. "Yeah… Alicia here told us you needed help." Slowly moving closer, Cam could see that Alicia was struggling trying to think of something to say. "Reika is it? That's a pretty name. Who gave it to you?"

Reika remained in her seated position, her knees up to her face. She quietly answered. "My mother. She's gone now."

Cam clenched his jaw and resisted the instinctual wince. _Goddamnit._ He joined the Air Force to kick ass and take names, not question children who'd seen atrocities. "I'm… sorry…"

Blinking a few times, Reika resumed her oddly expressionless tone. "Why?"

Alicia gulped – Cam saw her try to back up her superior officer. "Because we couldn't help her." Seeing Cam give her a disapproving look, Alicia quickly changed the subject. "Uhh… has your brother gotten any better?"

Reika shook her head and turned slightly to Alicia. "He's still asleep, but he's dreaming bad dreams." The little girl then turned to Cam. "The lady with the yellow hair said she was going to try and help him. Can she do anything?"

Cam's eyebrows raised slightly, and he looked to Alicia. "Uhh…" Alicia winced and began to mouth a reply.

_'Her brother's an addict! Withdrawal!'_

Informed, Cam now screwed his mouth to the side and answered after a moment. "I can't say for sure, but you can bet the farm we're going to try our best." Deciding to try something a little more direct, Cam reached into his TacVest where he pulled out a small baggy. "Alicia tells me you like chocolate."

Reika shrugged a little, but nodded gently. "I've never had it before, it's very sweet. It's not like the food the demon gods gave us."

Cam had seen some horrible things in his career, he'd _done_ some horrible things, but _never_ to kids., To use a kid for such a despicable thing made his blood boil and shred whatever sympathy he had left for the Lucian Alliance. "Well… neither is this…" Cam opened up the little baggy he had . "This… is called a macaroon. It's a pastry where I come from, but I think it's about as close to a 'godly' food as is possible.

He handed it forward and resisted giving Vega a disapproving look when she gave him the _'are you serious?_' expression she was so good at giving.

Reika eyed it for a few moments, and asked curiously. "It doesn't look like a pastry, why is it rough?"

Cam sighed, and then using both hands, broke off a piece. "It's a fruit. Coconut, mixed with sweet bread. My grandma made these for me when I was a kid and I take them with me everywhere now. I really think you'll like it. Try it." To prove its worth, Cam took a bite out of his piece.

Reika finally accepted the pastry and took a little bite. She obviously liked it as the side of her lips crept up in enjoyment.

Alicia had to admit, she was impressed. It had been _much_ more difficult getting Reika to accept a Twix.

**-5:35 pm-**

Standing at the head of the line of somewhat fresh graves, Colonel Reynolds sighed and grit his teeth. At some point in his life, he'd gotten used to the smell of decomposing bodies. He couldn't tell if that was a good thing or bad.

The graves were disconcerting in more ways than one, not only were they shallow, but they looked as if they'd been dug out by hand, or just some rudimentary wooden shovel-like devices. With his background in engineering, he could only wince at the thought of these people having to bury their dead by hand. Death on Earth was so clean in comparison, a backhoe made a hole in a few minutes, and the bodies were sealed in a casket rather than allowed to return to the dirt. His lips crept up as he recalled a George Carlin joke about 'recycling'.

It was moments like these that reminded him how lucky he was to have been born on Earth, rather than somewhere else.

Major Teldy was assisting Lt. Johansen with the second of the Lucian Alliance bodies the engineers had dug up. The Marines were watching their back, making sure no one decided that the exhumation was a crime worthy of a spear in the ass. All were wearing surgical masks the medics had brought, but the smell of the decomposing bodies was still disgustingly seeping through.

Reynolds reached down and examined the still clothed and dirt laden body. Just like the other two they'd dug up, the victim's chest was ripped open by projectile rounds. The blood had since clotted, making examination difficult in these rough conditions.

Lt. Johansen had opened up the shirt of the first body now, and took measurements of the holes and damage once cleaning it up with her gloved hands. "Colonel?" Reynolds moved over to where the body lay on a fabric stretcher. He nodded for her to continue. "Looks like center mass shots, full penetration since he wasn't wearing any armor. He would have died pretty quick since I think it passed through his heart."

Reynolds raised an eyebrow. "You _think?"_

Lt. Johansen sighed and shook her head. "I don't have enough equipment with me to be sure, but the wounds look consistent with a high velocity round. No powder burns or GSR on him so the shooter was at least ten or twenty feet away." She then pointed out the other body which had been bagged and tagged. "Same with her, all the bodies we've found so far are the same, three center mass shots. Whoever shot them knew exactly where to get an instant kill. They might have lived a few seconds after but with the amount of blood loss – it was merciful."

Teldy pumped her fists and wiped her brow with the back of her sleeve. Reynolds knew from experience that she wasn't too pleased. "It's possible someone raided them, but it wasn't us. I can't think of many cultures that would be capable of this that use bullets."

Getting up from his crouched position, Reynolds gulped softly. He had dark memories and could only hope he was wrong.

**-6:10 pm -**

It was almost two hours now, and the two SG teams had finally regrouped after each doing their investigations. They met at the front of the village, not far from the Stargate, but far enough from the village that they wouldn't be heard.

The eight SG-team members formed a semi-circle and listened as Cam led the discussion being the ranking officer along with Reynolds. "Alright kiddies, I asked around and the story is pretty much the same. Lucian Alliance showed up last year and set up, forced em to work, threatened em with Jaffa Tech. A little over a week ago, anywhere between three and thirty people raided and turned the LA into swiss cheese."

Reynolds continued, but eyed the teams. "Most were long range kills, but we found a few that were contact shots. Probably executed." He narrowed his eyes to Cam. "Where's Vega?"

Cam shrugged slightly and hooked his thumb back to the tent where the medical personnel were still hard at work. "Making sure my little friend doesn't get a tummy ache." Cam gave himself a small little smile and pat of his tacvest, then continued. "It was a little hard to understand, but one thing's clear, someone came, hit the LA hard and fast, and got away without leaving a trace beyond dead bodies."

Daniel shook his head, but before he could speak, Vala interrupted. "That's not true! Daniel and I found a weapon over on that hill. It looks like a mortar or something, it was dug into the ground and the whole area was burned."

Daniel turned an annoyed face to Vala, but then continued. "Yes, it looked like a mortar. Pretty crude too, just a small barrel with some metal reinforcing. It was too heavy to move so I think it was built right there. But whatever it shot it left a whole trail of fire along the hill. See that?" Daniel pointed to the hill and what appeared to be a darker gully leading down to the field. "That's actually burnt grass. Whatever came out of that was like a flame thrower, it left a trail as it came down. Whoever did this planned it for awhile if they could get something like that here."

Sam scratched her chin and added. "They're also not stupid, building a mortar isn't hard, but a flame throwing one that can burn down a whole cornfield? That's impressive on-the-spot engineering. They'd need a solid state fuel or at least some kind of napalm canister, propellant… it'd be tricky to make something like that in my garage, let alone out here in a field."

Across from Sam, Major Teldy added. "They weren't bad shots either, only found powder burns on a few of them, it was probably a high velocity round so I'm guessing a battle rifle since more were hit multiple times."

Sam hesitated for a second, shook it off, and then nodded and motioned over to the tower. "They were smart enough to break the computer consoles, but that could have just been the native population. We just don't know enough about what happened and we don't even have an inventory for the base." She turned to Teal'c and nodded. "What do you think Teal'c?"

Teal'c cocked his head, and after a quick look around, mused. "An outpost of this size would have maintained a platoon strength arsenal, as well as refined naquadah for resupplying cargo ships. The tower and barracks underneath reaffirm that suspicion, but there are few weapons left that the villagers do not possess."

Greer shook his head and replied succinctly. "No, they've only got a few staffs and zats. Nothing like platoon strength."

Reynolds sighed and looked to Cam. "There's nothing left here, we'll send back a few of the more suspect bodies through the gate for autopsy, but all this dirt would have ruined any evidence. I'll have the sappers dig out that mortar and send it through, I don't think we need both of our teams here anymore." Reynolds gave Vala a sarcastic look. "_We're_ the amateurs remember?"

Vala gave Reynolds a grin back, then turned to Cam. "I think he's after your job Cameron. Careful…"

Cam and Sam gave each other a small look and agreed that it was pointless to stay. Cam replied with an equally sarcastic grin. "Noted. And I agree, I'll stick around for a little longer but the rest of my team'll head back and see what Lam's got to say about that body you brought back."

Reynolds and the rest of his team nodded, gave a quick salute, and headed back to the village, Sam raised an eyebrow at Cam, but Daniel was the one to speak. "So, you're staying?"

Cam turned back to the village to look, and then back to his team. "Yeah, jus' for a little while. Got something to take care of."

Not willing to pry, Daniel, Vala and Teal'c turned back towards the Stargate. Sam remained and stared defiantly at Cam as the others walked away. "Something to take care of?"

Cam shrugged at Sam who eyed him suspiciously. "Yeah, got a little lady who needs a hand."

Sam smiled slyly and looked over Cam's shoulder to the village. "Wouldn't be a smart mouthed captain with a chip on her shoulder, now would it?" She grinned and then shook her head. "And here I thought I was the only woman in your life."

Cam snorted and grinned back. "You'll always be '_the one_,' but this lady's only ten and really needs someone right now. I'm here, so why not?"

Sam's smile went from sly, to warmed. "Aww… forget the IOUs, do this and I'll forgive it all." She gave Cam a gentle shove on the shoulder and snickered. "Go on, I'll brief Landry."

Cam gave Sam a similar playful shove, and then sighed. This village would be okay now.

**-6:22pm- **

**-(Earth)-**

As SG-1 stepped through the event horizon to the SGC, they were a little surprised to see General Landry waiting for them. Vala instantly held her hands up. "I didn't take anything, I_ swear!"_

Landry gave her a disapproving look, instantly making the others serious. Sam stood up straight and respectfully asked. "Sir, is there a problem?"

The general nodded, and then motioned with his head. "This is important, did you find any evidence of who might have attacked that Lucian Alliance base?"

Daniel shrugged and replied. "Not really, but whoever they are, they're at least as technologically adept as us."

Teal'c nodded. "Indeed, eyewitnesses claim they stole a Cargo Ship, and many weapons and supplies are missing. Their tactics were ruthless, efficient, and uncaring of collateral damage." He narrowed his eyes and spoke softly. "No free Jaffa would strike like this. This is someone we've not seen before."

Landry turned a shade paler and looked away, "Maybe we have. Dr. Lam just got the ballistics report back. That scorched body had three .45 caliber rounds in its chest - Earth made bullets."

Sam's eyes went wide in shock, as did the rest of her team's. "You don't mean…?"

Landry nodded – his voice soft. "We'll discuss it in the briefing room, but we've already contacted the Tok'ra to get a ship out to that planet and investigate. We might have missed something."

Daniel gulped, something told him that the situation was much different than before, and it was going to get a _hell_ of a lot messier before it got cleared up.

* * *

**- Planet: P1C-T4R (Eldross) -**

**- Free Jaffa Settlement -**

**- February 27th 2007 -**

**- 5:16 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Al'Mack scoffed as he and Rachel walked towards the Cargo Ship hidden in the forest near the Chappa'ai. "A Tel'tak is no place to run a business like ours. A strong base will give you respect and a reputation. We have much work to do if you wish to join the Lucian Alliance."

Rachel rolled her eyes and motioned with her chin forward. "Just get in. We can talk about this stuff after I've introduced you to the others."

Al'Mack continued his saunter forwards. These rogue Tau'ri - if that's what they really were - had much to learn about how to strike fear into opponents. If anything, Al'Mack clearly expected to become their leader with his access to Lucian Alliance resources. An out of the way planet would be a nice start.

Rachel keyed in the command codes into the side of the Tel'tak where the doors opened and motioned to Al'mack. "Go ahead, they know we're here." She hefted her bag of food to one side, allowing Al'Mack passage

Al'Mack decided to enter with purpose. This was _his_ Tel'Tak now, this was _his_ team, this was –

_Zap!_ A single red bolt flew into Al'Mack's chest as he entered the Tel'tak, and he dropped to his knees. The Intar had weakened him, but not enough to completely debilitate him. He gasped for breath, clawing backwards towards the door when he felt a sharp strike on his back.

Rachel had jumped up and used the top door jamb of the Cargo ship as a swing to dropkick Al'Mack deeper in. Moments later the doors closed and the lack of strong light blinded him.

He was rolled over, and a boot came down on his throat. An older man with a beard stood above him with an Intar in one hand. "I should kill you right now, but Decian wants you alive, and he's promised me everything you own in return.

Firing another Intar shot, Al'Mack was completely incapacitated.

**-5:20pm- **

Malcolm took his boot off the Jaffa's throat and looked into the shadows where Drake and Garcia were waiting with their weapons drawn. "Get him locked up in a crate, put a few airholes in it and get ready for takeoff." He then turned to Rachel who was now dusting her hands off. "Anyone follow you?"

Rachel smiled and shook her head. "Nope, far as anyone knows, I just hired him to be our guide. We can come back anytime and nobody'll suspect a thing."

Malcolm smiled, things were going perfectly so far, and with Al'Mack's small outpost his rival in the Lucian Alliance Decian promised, he'd have a starting place to put all the weapons and equipment they'd salvaged from the Alpha Site.

Drake moved out of the shadows and shook his head at Al'Mack. "Figures, even the Jaffa can't say no to a pretty face."

"And look where it got him." Rachel gave him a less than amused face. "You know what Lucian Alliance does to their prisoners. We won't see him again, least not in one piece."

Garcia moved around the body, and motioned for Dan to take the legs as he took Al'Mack's hands. "Reminds me of Colombia."

Malcolm retook control having allowed his team to vent a little, "Alright, Stirfry, get us back to Decian's base. Garcia, once you're done packing up the cargo with Drake, message Decian. I'm not stupid enough to think he'll follow through without pressure." He sighed and stretched his neck. "I'm going to put this rubbish Jaffa weapon away and finish cataloguing our equipment, Once we're on the way we'll see about dinner."

Dan chuckled and lifted up Al'Mack's body. He headed over to where a wooden crate was waiting to be opened. "Wonder what Stirfry'll have for us today."

Garcia smiled looked over at the bag Rachel had left by the door. "Looks like meat, might actually enjoy dinner this time."

_"I heard that! Expect a bullet in your steak!"_

Both Garcia and Drake chuckled at Rachel's quip, Malcolm simply smiled. Their first job as a freelance team was done, and now they were building their resource levels. Once they'd built up a decent amount, Decian would follow and nothing would stop them short of death.

But Malcolm wasn't afraid of death anymore, not like a regular person was. No god or gods would ever torture their creation with a life like this or those he'd seen in his career. All that mattered now was having people who became family for the short time in which you weren't alive, but you weren't dead yet.

Yes, things were going smoothly so far. And now checking the equipment they'd salvaged from the offworld RedScope facility's backup cache, including computers, sensors, and even basic amenities like showers and toilets, Malcolm knew that he'd be cheating death fhor quite awhile longer.


	3. Skilled at Surprise

**Chapter 3 – Skilled at Surprise**

* * *

**- Planet: P2X-3YZ (Earth) -**

**- Stargate Command -**

**- March 5th 2007 -**

**- 9:32 am Local Time -**

* * *

Sam heard Walter's call over the intercom and immediately headed towards the gateroom. This whole situation struck closer to home than usual and she needed to make sure one way or the other. Sam glided down the corridors of the SGC - silently nodding in acknowledgment to the various servicemen and woman who swept past. She often wondered who'd started that – she called it the 'nodding conspiracy' since even people who didn't know each other would nod as they passed by.

Sam eventually reached the control room where Walter had deactivated the stargate. He turned to Sam and gave his own gentle nod. "The Tok'ra have just arrived, Ma'am."

"Thank you, Walter. General Landry?"

"He's heading up to the briefing room. I was just about to call SG-1 up there as well."

Sam gave another nod back, and realized that yes, there must have been a conspiracy about this. She took a deep breath, and headed up to the briefing room behind the winding steps.

* * *

**- Planet: P4C-M4N (Leilani) -**

**- Former LA Outpost -**

**- March 5th 2007 -**

**- 9:53 am Local Time -**

* * *

Rachel finished reassembling her Tavor CTAR, a little memento from Earth RedScope had gotten her that kept her on top of her opponents. The built in scope and bullpup design made it perfect for her small frame, and right now as she assembled her team's gear in preparation for their latest mission, she couldn't help but wonder how things were back on Earth.

She looked out the nearby window, if she'd ever wanted to live in a castle in the sky, this was about as close as possible. The Goa'uld had set up this remote outpost to spy on each other - why else would it have been placed on an asteroid orbiting a gas giant? The subtle purples and blues streaking across the planet made for a better vista than even the Mediterranean back home…

Home. They said home is where the heart is. But where do you belong when you just don't have one anymore?

"Hey, StirFry." Rachel turned to the casual tone of Dan who entered the room carrying a pack. "Got those Jaffa clothes you wanted. I'd have picked something _nice_ for you, but I like my anal virginity."

Rachel didn't laugh, it _was_ amusing, but Dan's constant filthy mouth was more of an annoyance than entertainment. "Do you ever think with the _right_ head?" She pulled the bag from him and began to sort out the clothing. Rachel muttered as she looked them over. "_Ahkla_… You'd think with all that left over Goa'uld tech, the Jaffa or Lucians could come up with some nicer clothing." She pulled out a leather support garment that looked suspiciously like something Xena would wear. "You did _not_ get me this."

**-10:02pm- **

Dan shrugged. "Would you rather the chainmail one? I could go back if it's that important."

Hearing her annoyed huff, Dan simply turned and walked back out towards the main section of the outpost to avoid Rachel's wrath.

He liked this place. It was quiet, tranquil, had a _great_ view, and even more, the company wasn't ripping him for every little infraction. It wasn't _anything_ like this in the Marines.

If he was truly honest with himself, he did miss the Marines. Dan liked the stability, he enjoyed not being totally responsible for his actions like he was now. Taking orders was a simple task, they just expected him to act like a soldier so he did. The Marines had been like a foster home, they took care of him and taught him, but they chided him for his personal… _obligations._

Though he did like the way Malcolm took over the situation and kept them all safe and dry in a place they could call their own, even if they did steal it. The fact that he didn't bother them in their personal lives, what little remained of them was the frosting on the cake.

The main hall was oval shaped with a distinctly Egyptian style of architecture. From what he'd understood of Decian's explanation as they were given the coordinates for the Stargate, the outpost was actually a landed Ha'tak with all its space faring capabilities stripped away for parts. It could still hold and recycle atmosphere, it still had a shield generator, and it still had weapons. It just didn't have an engine or the majority of the electronics the geometrically shaped ships had. It even still had a hangar so their cargo ship was still safely ensconced in their possession.

Dan couldn't help but be amused by how he was literally living in a pyramid now. He chuckled as he spotted James off to the side of the Stargate using a heavy wrench to tighten the bolts on something attached to the gate itself. Several more were festooned on the circular device with obvious calculated distances between them. "Hey!"

James turned and wiped some sweat off his brow with his shirt sleeve. His brown Lucian Alliance tunic was scuffed and torn from having helped to lug all their equipment into the new base. It was obvious the man wasn't used to work like that. "Danny, what'd you want?"

Dan snorted as he used his knuckle to rap on the Stargate - It hardly made a sound. "Nothin', just curious." He eyed the devices James was attaching. "Isn't Stirfry better at this shit? I'm guessing it's important."

James gave a small groan of disgust, and gave up trying to tighten the bolt of the device he was attaching. "It's the Goa'uld equivalent of an iris. Makes some kind of energy field that keeps the gate from sending stuff through. That's what the tech manuals we got from Alpha site say anyway, even the Lucians don't have this stuff."

Dan rubbed his chin pensively. He then recalled seeing similar devices back at the Alpha Site. "Normally I'd just leave you to it, but I'm not looking forward to a staff blast in the ass. Lemme give it a go."

The two men began to coordinate their efforts and soon enough, they'd finished installing the makeshift shield emitters. Neither knew exactly how to hook it up to a power supply, so Dan told James to go off and let him get Rachel to finish the job.

**-10:36pm- **

James yawned and stretched his tired and sore arms. The last few days had been exhausting to say the least. He kept himself in shape by running and doing body weight exercises, but lugging heavy crates wasn't his thing. He wished their plans could just hurry up and they could get some manual labor in here to deal with that sort of thing.

He left the main room and headed over towards the private quarters. A nice bonus of this outpost was that he had his pick of the rooms to put his things, and he'd managed to collect quite an impressive array of doodads and gizmos while infiltrating the Lucian Alliance.

He had ceremonial knives from three Goa'uld system lords, a set of Jaffa Serpent Armor left over from Apophis. He even had one of those snazzy floating orb Goa'uld TV's that he'd had Rachel hook into the few movies they'd salvaged from the Alpha Site.

He didn't really care about any of the stuff, it was just some weird sentimentality. Just like he still carried the spent cartridge from his first mission in Panama so many years ago.

Entering his large room, James did miss one thing about Collust and his stint as Anna'Keen, the perks of having an entire people worship you.

He went into the washroom and quickly began to freshen up. The outpost drew water directly from the frozen asteroid they were on, easily several years supply and if needed, they could always get more through the gate.

_"StirFry, Drake, James, come find me on the bridge."_

James yawned and flexed his arms. He sure hoped Malcolm could come up with a good plan from the information he'd gotten from Decian. Working alongside the Lucian Alliance wasn't exactly his favored choice, but it beat eeking out a living at a nine to five.

* * *

**- Planet: P2X-3YZ (Earth) -**

**- Stargate Command -**

**- March 5th 2007 -**

**- 10:02 am Local Time -**

* * *

Sam sat down next to Cam, how he'd beaten her here was a mystery but at least they were all together now. Teal'c sat on Sam's other side, with Daniel and Vala on the opposite trying to remain calm. General Landry along with Major Davis and Delek from the Tok'ra at the head of the briefing room table prepared to brief SG-1 on what they'd found.

Just the mere fact that there was something to say told Sam that her fear had been right – everyone's fear. They'd missed someone, _several_ someones at RedScope's offworld facility.

The mercenaries they'd captured were little assistance - their knowledge of the SGC meant they'd never be allowed to return to public life. Sam swallowed her feelings over the fact they were doomed to an isolated incarceration. It was a bureaucratic nightmare according to General O'Neill…who had quickly distanced himself and now proudly proclaimed that at least it was _Woolsey's_ bureaucratic nightmare. Sam cringed at the thought of being a politician - she wasn't that masochistic.

General Landry opened the talks once she was settled in. "I'm sure you're _all_ aware of the situation we're facing. From what we can tell, an unknown number of RedScope employees on their offworld facility escaped detection from our assault four months ago." He motioned to Major Davis.

Major Davis straightened in his seat. "Our computer experts were able to decode a significant portion of the databanks from your raid on the Earth based corporation." Major Davis looked and sounded prim and proper as he often did. "We still don't have a full personnel list, and with an unknown number trapped in the rubble left over from the failed nuclear detonation, our best guess is at the most, twenty people were caught offworld when we launched our strike."

General Landry picked up the briefing again. "We haven't been able to identify anyone. There just isn't enough evidence one way or another. But as our Tok'ra allies will tell you…" Landry motioned to Delek who gave a polite nod to SG1. "… we do have at least _some_ information."

Delek scooted up in his chair, and the distinct flanged voice of his symbiote speaking through the host was clear. "Our scout ship surveyed the planet where your rogue people had built their facility-"

"At tut tut!" Cam interrupted and raised a finger. "Not _our_ people. Just people from Earth."

Delek gave Cam a slight smile. "Not to the rest of the galaxy." He put his hands together and continued - smug with Cam receding back into his chair. "We compared our scans of the area with previous ones we took for your assault. We discovered a small cache that had been ransacked that we didn't find on our first run. It had been shielded by a cloaking device which fooled our sensors. Whoever put it there had it as an emergency supply.

"From the size of the cache, it could easily have held enough weapons or supplies to outfit a small army."

Daniel groaned softly and palmed his forehead. "How could they have gotten there? The gate was buried in god knows how many tons of radioactive rubble."

"They could have had a cargo ship." Vala smiled in the same way Delek had. "They're not that hard to come by. Think of them as the galaxy's bicycles. Easy to buy, easy to steal."

Sam shook her head in mild amusement of how apt the analogy was and got to the point. "However they got it, they're obviously not just people who were offworld at the time. If you think about it logically, it could be that RedScope had a team offworld at the time - Maybe their equivalent of our SG teams. If so then that would explain how they were able to take down the Lucian Alliance base so easily. The Lucian Alliance isn't used to fighting anything organized and from what we could pull of RedScope's personnel databank, they mostly hired ex-soldiers and wetwork specialists."

"I am unfamiliar with the term 'wetwork'" Teal'c raised an eyebrow accenting his curiosity.

Sam could see that Daniel had gotten a headache from the proceedings as he explained. "Wetwork means an assassin. It's an old euphemism from Russian intelligence agencies so they didn't have to say 'murder' or 'assassin'. It comes from the fact that usually when you _kill_ someone, something gets wet with their blood."

Teal'c's severe expression was almost comical. Sam knew something classic was coming. "They are Tauri Ash'raks then? I find it odd that such a feared person would accept such a peculiar name as 'wetwork specialist'."

Sam had to smile. she might have been sympathetic to Daniel's headache, but it was still very amusing despite the circumstances.

* * *

**- Planet: P4C-M4N (Leilani) -**

**- Former LA Outpost -**

**- March 5th 2007 -**

**- 10:56 am Local Time -**

* * *

"Good of you to finally join us."

Drake shrugged as he capped off his canteen and attached it to his vest. "Had to drop the kids off at the pool."

Malcolm repressed his sigh, he'd heard much worse in his time in Afghanistan, and tapped his finger on the map of what looked like an outpost on a planet. "This is our next target. It's a neutral planet for the Free Jaffa. Decian tells us that they're going to have a summit meeting soon. Seems they want to know who's going to stand against the Ori and who's going to pander to those fanatics."

Rachel made a hesitant noise with her throat. "I dunno… Wouldn't there be a ton of Jaffa around? Lucian Alliance is one thing, I don't think we're ready to take on trained Jaffa."

James snorted and shook his head. "Like the SGC hasn't been doing that for years."

"Enough." Malcolm kept his voice calm and tactful - he still needed to maintain order. "We're not sneaking in through the gate like last time, and we're not engaging. This is going to be much quieter. Decian's bosses want to disrupt the Jaffa's meeting and make them angry. Not difficult with fanatics like that - Just plant some explosives and Robert's your mother's brother."

Drake raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Huh? The hell?"

Rachel groaned softly and explained. "He means Bob's your uncle. Keep up would you?"

"That's not _all_ we're going to do." Malcolm took the reins and decided _not_ to let them go again. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but we're seriously vulnerable here. Not many people know about this place but it's not like we're mobile. The Lucians have bases but most of their important people are on their ships. They don't bunker in."

James looked at the map, and saw several landing places for Ha'tak, as well as smaller craft surrounding the main outpost. "We're not stealing one of those big pyramids are we? Kinda hard with just four of us."

Malcolm shook his head. "Not this time. Decian wants us to stir the shit up there, he's promised us some more supplies since we're going to run low on food pretty soon. _I'm_ saying we can do that _and more."_

Rachel looked at the map where the stargate was marked out. Malcolm knew she could tell that going through would end one up in a meat grinder of staff weapons and cannons. "I'm guessing we're taking the cargo ship?"

Malcolm nodded. "The meeting's in three days, we've got that long to figure out how we're going to do this and get out alive." Looking at each of his team, he knew they would have something to add that would make this even less suicidal than it seemed. He felt an odd sense of home here, a feeling of finally being in the right place at the right time.

* * *

**- Planet: P2X-3YZ (Earth) -**

**- Stargate Command -**

**- March 8th 2007 -**

**- 10:25 am Local Time -**

* * *

"I'm sorry, Colonels. As far as the IOA is concerned at this moment, the possibility that a few people with Earth technology out there might cause a problem is negligible." Landry grimaced at the distaste of his own words.

Sam and Cam both tensed up. They were alone in Landry's office and the briefing three days earlier now felt like a complete red herring. Sam said. "Sir, they took out a Lucian Alliance base like it was nothing - The villagers there still swear it all happened within 20 minutes. That's a coordinated and _planned_ attack. It wasn't just a raid, sir."

"Besides…" Cam added. "Didn't they make a huge fuss over rogue teams giving Earth a bad name? Didn't this happen before with that device thingy, the 'touchstone', sir'?"

Sam nodded. "If anything, this is an even bigger problem if they're aggressive, sir. They could strike at the wrong people and Earth would be blamed."

Landry sighed - Sam saw that this was by far _not_ what he wanted right now. "I agree with you… _both._ But the IOA feel that with the Ori Supergate still active, our efforts should focus on that. Doctor Jackson says that he's gotten information on something that might help us with the Ori and he'll need your support. While the possible RedScope threat _is_ important, it's nothing compared to the Ori."

Try as they might, neither Colonel could find a proper counter to that. It was true, and even more, they agreed.

* * *

**- Planet: P4X-0C1 (Ash'luk) -**

**- Neutral Free Jaffa Outpost -**

**- March 8th 2007 -**

**- 4:15 pm Local Time -**

* * *

"Oh for fuck's sake…this is worse than airborne training."

Rachel turned her head just enough for Drake to hear her as she piloted the Cargo Ship into the atmosphere of the Jaffa held planet. "I've known you for six months Drake, don't tell me you're afraid of flying."

"Not flying…" Given that they were going to be working closely together for the next little while, Drake decided to be clear. "…Crashing."

Rachel couldn't help it and snorted softly. "Grow a pair would you? I've been doing this for a long time and you're being a nudnik!"

"Yeah, but not with _alien_ ships!" Drake protested and bowed his head.

Rachel's piloting skills weren't the best, but she could handle herself with this orb thingy. "Well don't worry. These things almost fly themselves. The Jaffa have something like cruise control to make up for pilot error."

"You still need to _steer_ with cruise control!" Drake whined as he rubbed the fake Jaffa Tattoo on his forehead.

If her hands weren't busy, Rachel would have smacked her forehead, likely damaging her own fake tattoo.

It didn't take much longer for the ship to come into range of the outpost, and a message came through from the Jaffa equivalent of traffic control. "_Approaching Tel'tak, identify yourself or we will open fire."_

Drake scoffed softly and thought about all those horrible airline disaster shows on Discovery Channel. "Oh _sme'ce… Please_ _God_ let this work…_please-please-please…_"

Rachel rolled her eyes and replied. "This is Kara Thrace of the Hak'tyl…" Rachel had to admit, Garcia's idea to use TV names was a great cover. "I bring a private message to Ish'ta."

Rachel could almost _hear_ Dan sweating behind her. Obviously the man wasn't used to subterfuge. She only hoped that once the face to face came up, he'd remain frosty.

The Jaffa on the other end replied dubiously. "_I've heard nothing of Ish'ta expecting a message."_

"Probably because you're an ignorant peon with more tretonin in his lap than his head!" Rachel had gotten fully into character, this was the fun part of her job. Pretending to be a Hak'tyl had the dutiful honor of shredding the significant Jaffa male ego. "Now, I'm landing and you will _not_ inform anyone of my arrival unless you want the Hak'tyl to demand you be replaced for delaying my arrival. This is a _critically_ important message that Ish'ta will need to hear privately before the summit. Will I tell them you were courteous and intelligent, or snide and ineffectual?"

Several moments passed, it would only be another few seconds before the ship came into range of the stationary staff cannons on the ground. Drake could feel his throat clenching, and even Rachel grit her teeth just a little.

_"Very well. You have clearance to land. But I will need confirmation from Ish'ta's entourage that you are indeed from her group."_

Rachel checked her sigh of relief and said. "Of course, you're only doing your job." Clicking off the radio, she let the enormous sigh out and looked to Drake. "Alright, we're still alive. Tell Garcia and the Colonel that we're ready to move out. Make sure you've got your naquadah on."

Drake breathed a sigh of relief as well, and flicked the little strip of naquadah hanging around his neck. He sure hoped that it fooled the Jaffa into thinking they were Jaffa as well. "Talk about a package delivery…"

**- 4:30 PM -**-

James was ready, but he didn't like any aspect of this little mission of theirs at all. Malcolm would be his escort while he went in and did what he did best, but it was still terrifying to be sealed in a damn crate. If this plan failed he swore he'd come back and haunt Drake's ass for all time, or if he died as well, make his afterlife an undead hell.

Feeling the crate start to jostle about, he heard Rachel's reassuring voice. "_Stay calm guys, we're moving you out. The ship's rigged and we're locked and loaded."_

He could barely hear Malcolm's reply. It sounded like a sarcastic _'Great'_ but given Malcolm's personality, it could have been anything. James just made sure his silenced pistol was ready to fire just in case.

The crate suddenly began to move, and he felt a loud crash as it smacked into something. A muted groan came from nowhere and Drake's muffled voice. _"Sorry guys, gotta look real."_

_"Tosser…" _

James never did think he'd ever get used to Malcolm's cursing, so instead he focused on being quiet. The crate was at least decently sized so he could brace himself, and he wasn't jostling about like some rucksack of yucca.

He had no way of telling how far they'd moved, but he heard a male voice yelling in their general direction. It sounded angry. He wasn't too surprised to hear Rachel screaming back just as hard, meeting him word for word.

He couldn't understand any of it. The words were too muffled, but given the jolt the crate took from what was likely a slap, the Jaffa were confused from the package. The voices cleared up a bit, and he made out the Jaffa's voice. "_I'm not letting it through without scanning it."_

_"Try it, and I'll scan the inside of your pouch!"_

James bit his lips to hide his laughter, but the Jaffa didn't seem nearly as amused. "_You say you're Hak'tyl, yet you bring an armed male guard. Explain! What's your name?"_

Now it was Drake speaking, and he didn't sound that happy. _"My name's Ada'ma. I just trade. They had the naquadah, I had the supplies they needed. Take it up with Ish'ta if you want, Don't be surprised if she sticks a staff up your ass for the trouble."_

James wasn't a religious man; as far as he knew, God was some five dollar statue you got for a hundred bucks at some churches. The Almighty was also the biggest racket in the universe, what with all the amounts people would give to him just on the off chance he might do them a favor. That appealed to him somewhat, but not on a worship level – more jealousy.

_"…I will let you pass, but should anything go awry in the council meeting, know that Ish'ta will be blamed."_

James bit his lips to hide his sigh of relief. A few seconds passed, and the crates began to move again. Any luck, and they'd be inside in no time.

**- 4:52 pm -**

Malcolm dusted himself off, and detested the idea of the tattoo on his forehead. Rachel helped him out of the crate and muttered. "At least you look respectable. You'd think Ish'ta's never heard of actual body armor." She groaned softly at her own revealing clothing.

Looking around and seeing they'd made it into what was likely a supply room given the Jaffa equipment stored around them, Garcia was already out of his crate and stretching his arms, his dark leather clothing helping him to simply fade into the background visual noise. Drake on the other hand kept an eye on the door, looking quite respectably Jaffa with his cutoff white cotton shirt and dark leather vest. The loose fitting pants gave him a bit of a clownish appearance though. A nice touch for a trader from Garcia's point of view.

Malcolm turned to Rachel who looked quite silly in her cut-off leather top and tighter than they had to be pants. At his age and experience, things like that just didn't matter anymore. "SitRep?"

Rachel checked her Zat and said. "We're inside the main complex. Ish'ta and her party are already inside, but from what I got from the Jaffa on the way in, their pilots are in the mess. Figure it'll be easy to pick Ish'ta's out. Not many women get to fly Al'Kesh I'm betting."

Drake popped his head back into the room and nodded. "Well there goes my job, there was only one Al'kesh out there. I guess I could wing Santiago there."

Garcia cracked his knuckles and then clicked his tongue a few times. "That's James to you, _pendejo._ Just leave her to me. You guys worry about getting what we need to the ship, I'll worry about the codes."

Nobody asked James how he planned on doing that but Rachel visibly grimaced. Malcolm took control of the situation and put his hand on Rachel's shoulder pulling her away. "Come on. You saw this place. Let's load up the crates and get them out there. We've got a lot of trips to do."

**-5:45 pm-**

Ish'ta rubbed her forehead and cursed her lack of symbiote yet once more. It had been quite awhile that she'd been on Tretonin, but these nuisances known as 'headaches' to the Tau'ri and other humans was new to her. Usually the symbiote would deal with minor pain issues like this and allow her to remain focused.

The council was the most obvious headache that she'd get nowadays though. If it wasn't fighting for the rights of female Jaffa to equality, it was convincing the others that the fight against the Ori needed the Tau'ri. Ever since the disaster at the Supergate where so many lives and ships had been lost, there was little else but bickering left to do.

She needed a break, these idiots could keep thinking themselves important. Ish'ta needed to think clearly for now. She leaned over to her second in command and whispered. _"I'm going back to the ship. Tell them I'll be back once they stop arguing with their staffs."_

Her second smirked, and nodded gently. Ish'ta got up quietly and sneaked away. She'd always proudly worn her hair long and wide almost as a signal to the others that she was to be respected. The spiritual allusions to her former profession had been cast aside years ago. Now she just liked looking big, angry and mean. It was amusing to see hardened Jaffa warriors straighten as she passed them in the hallways.

Few dared to even look at her anymore, let alone speak to her. In many ways she didn't care and was actually thankful. Jaffa men were typically forward with their interests, and she'd gotten a few 'demands' from former First Primes and even two of the Council Members.

She wondered what Teal'c would say if she admitted to using his name as a proxy on the rare occasions the demands were more forceful and required tactical evasive maneuvering. Teal'c was still a name spoken in awe and fear. The Jaffa who who'd be a Tau'ri, and had killed more gods than any other. Ish'ta had to admit, her tastes were _quite_ mature.

Leaving the confines of the outpost, Ish'ta faced the wind so that her hair didn't fly in her face. Granted it was a cheap trick to look grandiose enough that even nature beckoned to her will, but it worked and that's what mattered.

Her Al'kesh wasn't far off. After the fall of the Goa'uld during the Replicator War, she'd managed to send her people to Moloc's bases and 'reclaimed' quite a bit of technology. The Ha'taks were used as mobile bases, hiding and rarely ever locking into a confrontation. The cargo ships were used for supply runs and trading, what they were meant to do. The Al'kesh though were repurposed into the standard conveyance when the Chappa'ai were less favorable. Potentially being trapped on a planet with all these idiot Jaffa was a less than appealing possibility, not to mention the added protection, firepower and sheer intimidation factor.

As she neared her Al'kesh though, Ish'ta noticed that the main passenger entrance on the side was open. Even more, the cargo tram inside was running. Someone was loading supplies - She hadn't authorized that.

"Ashima?" Ish'ta called out from outside, now wishing she had a weapon in case some stupid Jaffa had decided to raid her ship. "Ashima!"

Ish'ta thought about it for a moment and then shed the top layer of her clothing - a black cape and loose robe like coverings. It was purely ornamental, something they 'insisted' she wore to the council meetings.

Now devoid of the movement restricting garment, Ish'ta shivered in the cold as her cut-off leather top only gave the support she'd need in a fight and little else. Her pants were looser than those typically worn or rather 'gifted' to Jaffa woman. Being a leader did come with some perks.

Ish'ta kept low and entered the Al'Kesh, quickly checking the small storage compartments near the door, she found a Zat and flicked it open. The open spaces of the Al'kesh didn't provide much in the way of cover, but staying close to the wall was better than nothing.

Slowly she made her way through the few corridors of the ship, keeping her zat up and ready. The ship was quiet and ominous, the lights turned down with the standard orange yellow glow of Goa'uld technology. She was used to it, but not the silence. Even if it _did_ turn out to be Ashima, a little shock was worth the antagonism of thinking her ship was being raided.

As she approached the cargo area though, she heard a distinct accented male voice. _"Garcia's got the codes, he's on his way now. Once he's aboard, set off the fireworks and get us out of here."_

She couldn't catch the accent, it didn't sound like any of the planets she'd visited. In any case, Ish'ta would certainly have been notified if anyone was loading something into her ship. Stealthily, she entered the cargo area and took cover by a low crate of some ornate design.

They'd loaded _a lot_ of materials - Crates full of weapons, naquadah, even food and emergency supplies. The ship already had enough supplies to last them several weeks, but given how much they'd loaded it would last her crew of thirty several _months._ She made out three Jaffa, two males and a female. The female was tall with brown hair and a full figure, she almost looked like a Hak'tyl herself. The two men were muscular, but distinct enough that they were easy to tell apart. The female moved off, heading up to the pel'tak of the ship.

They weren't just raiding her ship, they were _stealing_ it! Ish'ta clenched her teeth in anger and waited until the female had left the area. She could take on two targets in a surprise attack, but not three. They were armed with zats so it made the match even.

Stretching her legs to balance herself out as she leaned out from cover, Ish'ta aimed at the taller of the two men – the younger one – and fired a single shot. The electrical energy arced out and slammed into the man's midsection doubling him over and sending him to the floor in a silent limp heap. He ended up with half his body over the crate he'd just lugged in, almost embracing it in a hug.

The other man reacted faster than Ish'ta could aim, diving behind another crate for cover. Ish'ta's second shot went wide and she lost sight of him.

Silence apart from her breathing. The female hadn't heard it and the man wasn't calling for help. Ish'ta felt like screaming for help as well, but nobody would hear her this deep inside her ship.

The older man didn't look like a hunter, so Ish'ta decided to treat him like prey, something to be tracked and taken down. She pulled herself back behind the crate, and began to crouch walk to another - always keeping something between her and where she thought her prey was.

A zat shot landed near her, Ish'ta jerking away from it as it sparkled and dissipated into the non-conductive materials. Ish'ta kept calm, a near hit was nothing. A near _miss_ was the problem.

Ish'ta held her breat and focusing on the sounds around her - she could hear footsteps from her right. Whoever this was had closed the gap and now they were getting closer.

So Ish'ta decided to try a little trick, she pulled one of the barettes out of her hair and tossed it up and away. The sound it made on impact would distract her prey, giving her a chance to strike.

It took only a second or two for it to bounce noisily off a crate. As soon as it did, she spun around and – _Whack! _A fist to her face threw her back against the same crate she'd been using as cover.

The man hadn't been fooled, and he raised his zat to fire, Ish'ta was still faster though and quickly recovered by kicking upwards knocking the zat out of his hand. The man cursed in pain and lunged at her.

Ish'ta rolled away and swung her fist backwards slapping the man across the shoulder as she moved, it was a glancing blow, but it still forced him on the defensive. Her nose itched from being bloodied but she ignored it and spun around again, this time bringing her foot around in a kick.

The man nimbly dodged it and rolled back to avoid her close in attack. As he retreated, Ish'ta was momentarily blinded as she came into view of the sun outside, visible through the open cargo tramway.

The man took the opportunity and lunged with a pair of punches, one to her gut and the other to her shoulder. She rolled with the hits and avoided any serious damage, but the pain was still something she was uncomfortable with since discarding her symbiote. That didn't matter now, and she again spun around low, pushing against a crate and reversing their positions. She'd done it to put the sun behind _her_ using his own luck against him.

The man covered his face with his hand as he spun to face her, the setting sun now shining in his face. He threw a few more half-hearted punches that Ish'ta easily dodged. Just as she was about to deliver a hard strike to his chest to incapacitate him, he broke off and instead shoved a large vertically stacked crate towards her.

The falling box broke open unleashing a torrent of fruit at her, which like a tidal wave was unstoppable in her position. Ish'ta tripped and stumbled as her feet crushed the fruit spraying slightly sour and tangy smelling juice all over.

The man lunged at her again, now showing much more control over his attacks and parrying with her as he pushed Ish'ta back. He was stumbling and tripping too, but he seemed used to uneven terrain.

Ish'ta fought to regain control, but it was pointless. Her ankles hurt from twisting on this uneven battleground and her boots while useful weren't meant for this sort of uneven ground. The man on the other hand wore thick combat boots that easily crushed the fruit beneath. As she fell to the ground while blocking a kick, a bad idea hit her.

Instead of trying to get back up, Ish'ta rolled to the side, grimacing at how soaked her clothing and skin got from the freshly squeezed juices. Picking up a pair of the sour fruit, she squeezed it in the man's general direction. The fruit's juice sprayed out in a mist between her fingers. The man screamed as the citrus acid burned his eyes.

Ish'ta finally had the upper hand, got back to her feet and prepared to deliver a chop to his neck to stun him out of the fight, She raised her hand and – _Pft! _The sudden feeling of heat and pain in her left shoulder along with a spray of blood in front of Ish'ta threw her to the side where she clung onto the tram keeping herself upright. Her left arm suddenly felt like it was on fire, blood freely seeping down and staining her skin. Movement was impossible, but she managed to balance herself with her right arm. Ish'ta repressed the scream of pain she felt, and turned her head to look at where the shot had come from.

Another Jaffa, this one holding a distinctly long Tau'ri styled weapon looked very smug as heclimbed up via the tram. He smashed into her with his elbow in a tackle throwing her onto the tram. He mercilessly kicked her while she was prone, even using his gun to smack her across the face as well as punch her in the chest. Finally, leaving her groaning in pain from multiple bruises and lacerations - including the shape of his gun across her left cheek - he aimed the gun to her head, pulled back the hammer and chuckled. "Well now, ain't that just a bitch?"

The older man who she'd fought with screamed in pain and worry. "_Don't kill her!_ For fuck's sakes you wanna start a bloody _war!_ Get her off the ship! Let's get the hell out of here!" He wiped at his eyes as he grimaced, and forcing them open he moved over to Ish'ta and held her down by her bleeding shoulder with his hand.

Ish'ta couldn't fight it this time and screamed as his thumb dug into her torn flesh. Trying to buck out of his grip, she shuddered under such severe strain. Ish'ta saw his bloodshot and furious eyes as she tried to fight him off, but his other hand backhanded her across the face finally completely stunning her and leaving the thick taste of blood in her mouth. "Not bad for a zealot. I'm all for a good fight love, but this _isn't_ personal." He slapped her again, doubly ensuring she was out of the fight before looking to the other man and growling. "Get her off, Garcia. Make sure she'll live. Don't want the entire fucking Jaffa army after us."

'Garcia' nodded and watched as the older man stumbled away. "You got it, Leach." He then turned to Ish'ta who still remained wordless, but grimacing in pain as her shoulder wept blood. She curled up as she felt several broken bones from the savage beating. "Not even a 'fuck you'? I thought you Jaffa loved your battle cries."

Ish'ta clenched her teeth and spit in his face spraying blood and saliva. "You'll be the _first_ one I kill once I find you."

Garcia calmly wiped his face, chuckled and tapped the reverse on the tram. The conveyor belt began to move and Ish'ta realized that they were keeping their word. She'd survive as long as she got medical attention right away but the shame... "Not the first time I've heard that! Oh and tell that cute little pilot of yours, next time, we'll go to _my_ place."

Ish'ta cursed under her breath as she tried to move. The tram was moving fast and soon she'd fall onto the landing pad where doubtless someone would see her soon enough.

Just as she dropped out and rolled onto her stomach, she felt a massive shockwave come from nearby. A cargo ship had just exploded sending shrapnel and flames all around them like some technological volcano.

Before she could do anything beyond crawl to her knees, she was again thrown to the floor as the Al'kesh pushed up into the sky using its gravitic engines and washed her with wind. She was lucky that the pilot had been considerate enough to lift off vertically instead of allowing the engine wash to simply burn her away.

In the chaos of the ensuing fire and raining shrapnel, she was able to finally crawl enough that one Jaffa could see the smear of blood along the landing pad she left behind. As soon as he'd called for help, Ish'ta felt comfortable enough to finally pass out from the blood loss and hoped that she'd wake up someplace warm.


	4. Revelations

**Chapter 4, Revelations**

* * *

**- Planet: P4C-M4N (Leilani) -**

**- Former LA Outpost -**

**- March 10th 2007 -**

**- 2:25 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Malcolm stood on what remained of the bridge of the Ha'tak outpost, the view magnificent as the ship's deflector shields bounced off the errant rock or asteroid. Something told him he should be impressed, speechless over the marvels of technology and the vastness of space before him.

Unloading an Al'kesh worth of supplies wasn't easy, so Garcia had contracted out a few of Decian's lower ranked men to give them a hand as they stored everything away. They were used to the physical labor of picking Kassa, lugging Naquadah, or even repairing ships. The task of unloading light food and weapon supplies was a vacation to them.

It'd been two days now, and already the shit had hit the fan. The Jaffa Nation was in shambles, and the Lucian Alliance was quietly smug, with Decian having taken the credit for such a master stroke.

All Malcolm could think about though was the fact that this technology had existed for ages, never improving, never ripening into an orchard of peace and civility.

The Goa'uld were to blame, and in essence, the Jaffa. They were the Goa'uld's dogs bred to attack; it wasn't their fault, simply their nature. That's why it was so simple to disrupt the Free Jaffa - they were all on hair triggers and the slightest breeze would set them off.

Decian had praised their efforts in confusing the Jaffa - nobody suspected Lucian Alliance or even Tau'ri involvement.

_Ha, Tau'ri_, just another sign that the SGC were a bunch of wankers, they accepted a derogatory term for their people. Calling a Jaffa a walking snake fridge had earned him more than a few angered glares.

"Colonel."

Malcolm smiled softly, she was the only one who still called him that. "Stirfry."

Rachel walked up and huffed in annoyance. "You know I don't like that name."

"It fits, love. Just like you call Drake a 'horn-dog.'" He wouldn't meet her gaze, Even in this dark and rogue situation, a clear chain of command was needed if they wanted to survive.

"Honestly, I don't care, it's a call sign. But I do have a name and I'd like it if you used it when we're not in the thick of it."

Malcolm sighed, this kind of thing never used to happen to him. "Very well.. _Rachel_. How are the new peons doing?"

Snorting, Rachel replied. "Not too bad actually, It's amazing what they'll do for a warm place to sleep and thee squares a day. Seems Decian wasn't treating them all that well."

"Any problems?" Malcolm gave his voice a slight edge, the kind of thing that Rachel instinctively understood.

"…Nothing I can't deal with." Rachel's hesitation was more out of contemplation rather than unsuredness. Malcolm understood

Malcolm nodded and turned to Rachel. "Good, I wouldn't want a second in command who can't deal with these little shits."

* * *

**- Planet: P2X-3YZ (Earth) -**

**- Stargate Command -**

**- March 10th 2007 -**

**- 3:15 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Daniel had just decided to leave the gateroom. He'd compiled a list of likely planets where they might be able to find clues as to the whereabouts of this Ancient device he'd cross referenced between different religions and historical accounts when the alarm went off.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!" Walter called from his perch at the center of the control room.

It wasn't often Daniel was here when this sort of thing happened. Typically he'd be on the radio figuring out what was going on - He was an archeologist, not a soldier, dammit! Still, it was nice to be here and be the one to explain what happened to those who came late.

He wasn't _too_ surprised when Walter received a signal, and seeing General Landry coming in from his office, reported. "Sir, receiving an IDC, it's Master Bra'tac."

Landry nodded and put his hand on Walter's shoulder. "Let him through, Sergeant." He leaned forward to the microphones. "Gate security, stand down, incoming VIP." Seeing Daniel standing to the side watching the gate, Landry mused. "Today just got interesting."

Daniel nodded idly, and watched as Bra'tac, as well as Ish'ta and two other obvious Hak'tyl came through. Ish'ta's left arm was held in a fabric sling and it looked like she'd lost a fight with a punching bag. The Marine SF's in the gateroom stood at attention at the surprise visit.

Bra'tac looked up and met Daniel's eyes. Instantly, Daniel knew that interesting was about to turn into a bad day.

**-3:28pm-**

"You will forgive our unannounced arrival, but a situation has developed that will require the Tau'ri's attention." Bra'tac began as they all clustered in the briefing room next to Landry's office. "Several days ago, I had convened a meeting of the major Jaffa factions in a bid to unite in support of your campaign against the Ori. The leaders had all gathered at a well defended neutral planet."

The conference room was full, SG1 along with their guests were on edge. When Teal'c had seen the state Ish'ta was in, he'd gone completely silent, not saying a word but instead listening attentively. Cam and Sam had expressed their worry over her condition, but she merely brushed it off, more focused on the briefing than her health.

Vala and Daniel on the other hand seemed indifferent, but sympathetic. Daniel had sighed upon seeing Ish'ta's injuries, but he knew she was strong enough to endure. Vala's thoughts were a mystery. They all listened carefully as Bra'tac explained the situation.

"The meeting had been nearing the closing talks. We were approaching the start of a consensus when we were attacked." He motioned over to Ish'ta who – sitting up – took over the briefing.

"I had grown tired of the other leader's bickering and retired to my ship, a modified Al'kesh. When I arrived, there were three Jaffa loading stolen supplies and weapons on board. I engaged them and was doing quite well when one of them used a Tau'ri weapon to wound me." She motioned her chin to her shoulder, the large bandage clearly visible periscoping from under her shirt with a few splotches of blood visible.. "It was one of your sidearms with an attachment that lessened its noise. I was lucky they didn't wish to kill me because it would have been simple to do so."

Bra'tac nodded and looked back to SG1 and Landry. "These Jaffa were unlike any I've heard of before. They operated like Ash'rak, infiltrating the outpost and using insidious tactics to achieve their mission objective."

Finally, Landry could say something. "What _sort_ of tactics?"

"Impersonating the Hak'tyl, torturing a pilot for the command codes of the Al'kesh, and detonating the reactor of a Tel'tak on the landing pad as a distraction for their escape."

Ish'ta nodded, recalling how vivid the events were in her mind. "I do not care about the stolen Al'kesh, we have many more. What I _do_ care about is how they acquired Tau'ri weapons."

SG-1 gave each other worried looks. This was sounding much too familiar to be a coincidence. Sam leaned forward and asked,. "Are you sure they were Jaffa?"

Ish'ta and Bra'tac gave each other a small look, then they both glanced at one of the other two Hak'tyl, a shorter woman who looked bundled up despite the comfortable temperature. "We sensed nothing strange about them, they wore markings of former system lords and we could feel naquadah on their bodies."

Cam didn't smile, but it was obvious he was slightly amused. "Wouldn't it be pretty easy to just carry some naquadah around in your pocket?"

Daniel nodded and put his hands together contemplatively. "The only way you could tell for certain is looking for a pouch. Remember Ka'tano? I don't suppose you frisked them?"

Bra'tac raised an eyebrow. "Frisk?"

Ish'ta waved Bra'tac down and continued. "What are you talking about? You _know_ these people!"

Landry held his tongue for a few moments, but he looked over to Sam and Cam and nodded his head ever so slightly. Sam knew it was time to fess up. He sighed and bluntly stated. "It's quite possible that the people responsible for this attack were from Earth, but they are _not_ from the SGC."

The shorter bundled up Hak'tyl visibly tensed, obviously she wasn't pleased with the answer. "No Jaffa would ever make the threats they made."

Ish'ta turned to the young woman and her angry demeanor switched to a sympathetic one. Ish'ta used her right hand to hold the woman's wrist reassuring her. "You didn't tell me that before, Ashima. What happened?"

'Ashima' looked at Ish'ta, and with her eyes closed that line of questioning down. "Suffice it to say, _I _don't believe for a second the man who attacked me was Jaffa."

Vala leaned towards Ashima and softly said. "Ashima, you don't need to tell us anything."

The rest of the team agreed, but the cat was out of the bag and Bra'tac seemed irritated. "The question remains, how did Tau'ri get off this world if not through the Chappa'ai?"

Cam growled softly in his throat as he recalled the entire incident. "Someone, we still don't know who, but likely a Goa'uld, hired a large number of Earth mercenaries, freelance scientists and technicians, They used at least one cargo ship to get them to an offworld base."

Sam continued. "They weren't SGC, and they weren't a part of our government. We only found out when they began to hunt SGC personnel." She made no mention of the mere millimeters away from death she'd come. A faint ache in her shoulder reminded her as she spoke. "We hunted down their Earth based element and with the help of the Tok'ra, we destroyed their offworld base in a raid and either killed or captured the majority of their people."

Ish'ta raised an eyebrow, quickly coming to the right conclusion. "The _majority?_ You didn't account for them all?"

Sam remained silent, but Teal'c finally spoke in her defense. His voice was low and dangerous. "The mercenaries had a well fortified position and nuclear armaments. It was impossible to account for them all given the devastation they inflicted." He stared at Ish'ta. Nobody could tell if he was being defensive or aggressive. "Myself and Colonel Carter were quire fortunate to have survived the raid. There was nothing more we could have done."

Bra'tac huffed softly and leaned forward on the table with his palms supporting him. "There still remains the fact that several of these mercenaries, likely under the employ of a Goa'uld are free and armed with Tau'ri weaponry. We should have been informed of this."

Landry stood up straight and was just as blunt with his words. "Master Bra'tac, you must understand that this was a _private_ Earth affair. This is the first report we've gotten that this group had attacked a Free Jaffa element. We only found out about the missing personnel a few weeks ago."

Ish'ta sighed and clenched her teeth in anger. "I trust you will divert resources to track them down. They are an unstable element in an already fracturing galaxy. Their attack on our council meeting has caused a much sharper split between the Jaffa who support the Ori, and those who wish to resist."

Landry looked furious, his fist was clenched and his facial skin was pulled taut.

"Our _resources_ are already stretched to the limit trying to combat the Ori. Our government has already told us that this 'rogue' team is a smaller concern which can be dealt with after the Ori." Landry shook his head idly. "My hands are tied. The most I can give you at this moment is whatever intelligence we can dig up."

Ish'ta and the other Hak'tyl had become disinterested as they heard Landry explain. Ish'ta didn't even bother looking at him as she sighed and got up from her chair. "Master Bra'tac has the video images we captured of this… 'rogue' team. It's obvious we shall have to deal with them _ourselves."_ Not letting SG-1 get a word in edgewise, She motioned to her group. "Come, there's little else for us to do here."

Sam straightened and called out. "Ish'ta, wait!"

Ish'ta ignored Sam and walked back towards the area she'd been led through. To no one's surprise, Teal'c got up as well and silently followed. Bra'tac gave them a following glance, and then sighed. "The young need to learn patience…" He then turned to Landry. "And sometimes the old have to learn due diligence."

SG-1 couldn't think of anything to say in response.

* * *

**- Planet: P4C-M4N (Leilani) -**

**- Former LA Outpost -**

**- March 10th 2007 -**

**- 3:50 pm Local Time -**

* * *

"You guys really think Decian's going to let you guys prosper? What is it you want?

The two Jaffa and three humans who'd come to assist them with offloading supplies shrugged, obviously not wanting to speak ill of their 'boss'. Garcia repeated himself. "Come on, you know as well as I do that Decian's going to step on everyone's back to get what he wants. Kiva's father isn't going to do _you _any favors; not when Decian's taking all the credit for himself."

The bigger of the two Jaffa spoke. "He's given _you_ four a lot. Why should we listen to _you?"_

The question was defiant, and instead of getting angry, Garcia just chuckled. "Because it was _us_ who stole these supplies, it was _us _who disrupted the Jaffa Nation. You'd all still be doing shit jobs for Decian if we hadn't gotten you here."

The smaller of the two humans, an olive skin toned man with deep set eyes asked. "What if Decian is expecting you? He killed Al'Mack just to give you this place. We do a good job too, and maybe we get the same."

Now Garcia's patience was being tested. These idiots really needed some understanding of how economics worked. "This place is _useless_ to Decian. It's a rusted old Ha'tak stuck on an asteroid in a buttfuck nowhere system. No value beyond hiding and the Lucian Alliance has plenty of hideouts to spare. What I'm offering you is the chance to show the Lucian Alliance what you're really capable of." Garcia stroked his chin and lowered his voice. "Did Decian happen to mention that it was _us_ who captured Al'Mack for him? He couldn't even track the guy down. We had to pretend to hire him as a connection to the Alliance to get him to come out of hiding. But that's just it, we're _not _criminals and pirates. We're ex-soldiers who know how to maintain an army and field unit. Work for us and you won't have to worry about someone stabbing you in the back, if someone does…" Proving his point, Garcia pulled out one of the ceremonial daggers he'd collected and stabbed it into the wooden table they'd set up. It was a dramatic gesture, but Garcia had figured out that the Jaffa were only ever spurned to action by those emotional moments. "..I'll stab him in the face."

The two humans were looking nervous, but also receptive. "What are you going to do about Decian? He's not going to like it if he's 'replaced' by a couple of big-headed Tau'ri who think they can do what he can't."

Now Garcia smiled, the key question was asked. "Decian needs to be removed from the picture. Without him, the Alliance will be short an experienced leader. That'll mean they'll make mistakes. You guys have no idea what we're capable of, Who else do you know could have infiltrated a heavily secured council meeting and not only get away Scot-free, but actually change the galaxy's politics?"

It was a hard question, and the five men found that they just didn't have an answer that had them saying no to Garcia.

* * *

**- Planet: P2X-3YZ (Earth) -**

**- Stargate Command -**

**- March 10th 2007 -**

**- 4:10 pm Local Time -**

* * *

"Have you had proper medical treatment?"

Ish'ta smiled pedantically to Teal'c who'd cornered her on the stairwell. "It's a pleasure to see you too."

Teal'c didn't slow down. Looking at Ish'ta carefully now, he could see just how mauled she was. Her face was puffy and bruised, both her eyes black. She moved carefully and decidedly, avoiding certain positions as they just hurt too much. Ish'ta was limping as well, hardly noticeable to a human, but a Jaffa easily noted. "Pleasantries are superfluous, your health and that of your pilot are what matters."

Ish'ta rolled her eyes. "I am well, Teal'c. It may take me longer to heal without a symbiote, but I will be back to normal in a few weeks."

Seeing the lopsided bandage on her shoulder sticking out beneath her shirt, Teal'c repressed s sigh. he floated his fingers above the injury. "You should see Dr Lam. The Tau'ri have much experience dealing with projectile weaponry and wounds."

"You know your insistence bothers me, so why do it?" Ish'ta stared at Teal'c defiantly. "I am wounded, Teal'c; there is no other way around it. The Tretonin will protect me from infection; it's simply a matter of letting it heal."

Seeing that she'd given him the runabout, Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "And you know your stubbornness will only impede your recovery. Ashima still refuses to answer any questions, or allow any of the Tau'ri's medics to examine her. I make no claim to know what happened to her, but the Tau'ri doctors are experienced with psychological issues."

"Don't you mean _your_ medics?" Ish'ta muttered as she pushed past Teal'c. "There is much talk of you Teal'c, the Jaffa who would be a Tau'ri."

Teal'c eyes narrowed as he took a hold of Ish'ta's good shoulder and warned. "Do _not_ mistake acclimation with acceptance. I am Jaffa at heart and nothing will change that."

Having succeeded changing the subject, Ish'ta smiled to herself as she worked out of Teal'c's grip. "Then act like one. Convince them to fight their rogue team. They need not send you and your own, but someone who knows their ways and can anticipate their moves. We're at a loss as to what they want. If they wanted supplies they could have easily stolen it from simpletons. They attacked the council meeting and myself personally _for a reason._"

Teal'c held his mouth shut for a few moments, Ish'ta had just inadvertently called him out on what his thoughts of them were – at least that's what he told himself. It was a very personal tactic Ish'ta had used against him and he wasn't exactly sure how to reply. "You speak as if I should defend you."

Ish'ta smiled. "That depends on your actions here, Teal'c. Are you a man of honor or do you prefer loyalty?"

She had him trapped. There was no way to get out of this while following his head _and_ his heart. So Teal'c did the only thing left to him. "If you will not see Doctor Lam, I shall… _worry_ for your health. Go and I shall speak with General Landry knowing you are well."

Now _she_ was trapped. Ish'ta could get what she wanted, but Teal'c had trapped her into giving him what _he_ wanted. "Agreed, but Ashima will speak with no one. Let me deal with that privately. She wants nothing to do with the Tau'ri and I do not blame her."

Teal'c nodded once solemnly. "Indeed." He bowed his head and lowered his voice. "Truly, what did they do to her?"

Ish'ta had already regained a rapport with Teal'c. If he was going to help her…"Admittedly I do not know yet… but given her comments, and condition when we found her…" Ish'ta shivered slightly. "A violation very personal to a Jaffa."

Teal'c remained still, but Ish'ta could see the veins on his neck pulsate with rage.

* * *

**- Planet: P4C-M4N (Leilani) -**

**- Former LA Outpost -**

**- March 10th 2007 -**

**- 4:20 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Malcolm was very stealthy in how he had called Rachel down to the storage area. This was a _very_ tricky situation and he needed her without distractions. If he'd called the whole team down, Drake would have made a joke about Rachel's love of 'toys', while Garcia would have gibbered on about what supplies he didn't know they had.

Decian had outlived his usefulness, there was no question about that. Garcia had already reported back from his contacts that the Lucian Alliance mercenary had taken the credit for the elimination of Al'Mack, as well as destabilizing the Free Jaffa with their latest attack. It was aggravating to say the least given all the work Malcolm and his team had put into this place and their mission.

The others didn't understand; they couldn't. Only Rachel had even fought with fanatics and extremists to the point where she understood. Man was not a good enough judge, only God himself could weigh the scales of right and wrong in this case. Patton was intelligent – for a Yank –; man just needed to arrange the meeting.

The Jaffa nation was a joke; a simple attack without any real casualties had thrown them into chaos and feudalistic bickering. He'd been on the receiving end of much more destructive battle and he hadn't broken, the Jaffa were warriors as long as they had order, a fatal trait.

The Lucian Alliance were unintelligent savages with more technology than brains. They'd stolen everything they had and didn't understand how to use it effectively. Malcolm couldn't believe how twisted the galaxy was that they wouldn't unite to combat the Ori because of idiotic infighting from dead gods and supposed crimes.

The Ori's days were numbered, Malcolm knew that. Fanatics paid the price eventually, they all did. Earth would be the ones to win the day because of the strength of unrepressed mankind. He'd seen the most terrible acts of kindness, and the most beautiful hatred imaginable come from mankind. The Ori wouldn't stand a chance once the gloves were off.

What Malcolm worried about was the aftermath. The Lucian Alliance was a tremendous threat to Earth and her continued existence. Few people were ready to step out into this huge galaxy and even fewer were ready to fight a battle like that. All it would take is one intelligent bastard in the Alliance and Earth was gone. Malcolm wasn't ready to let that happen.

The SGC were close to what was needed, but too many regulations, too much bureaucratic bullshit to deal with those that knew nothing of law and order. Freedom wasn't free, and the adage of quid pro quo rang too true with war criminals and extremists.

The doors behind Malcolm slid open, and Rachel entered wearing her old RedScope BDUs. "Colonel, you called?"

Malcolm motioned with his head to the crate in front of him. "I've got a gift for the next time we see Decian, Some assembly may be required."

Rachel quirked her eyebrows and upon rounding Malcolm to take a good look at the inside of the crate, was just a little surprised to see such a technical and destructive marvel.

* * *

**- Planet: P2X-3YZ (Earth) -**

**- Stargate Command -**

**- March 10th 2007 -**

**- 5:30 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Major Davis nodded in greetings to the SG1, General Landry, as well as Ish'ta and Bra'tac. Ish'ta had since gone to Doctor Lam who had quickly redone her bandage with a better dressing and even cleaned the wound. She looked much more like the Ish'ta the team knew now instead of a wounded leader. The fabric sling had also been replaced with a more supportive fiberglass mesh, and Ish'ta was much more comfortable.

Major Davis had just gotten word back from Homeworld Security, who'd sent the information to Home_land_ security to be analyzed. "Our results are back from the images Ish'ta and Master Bra'tac have provided. We've identified all four attackers from using our facial recognition system.

"In short, these are very dangerous people." Davis flicked the remote in his hand, bringing up the first face, along with a brief bio on the side. "To start, Former Marine Lieutenant Dan Drake, also known as Slobodan Draculic."

Cam stifled a snort, to which both Daniel and Sam gave an irritated glare. "Sorry."

Daniel rolled his eyes and muttered. "You know, Slobodan was a popular name. At least before Milosovic."

Cam held his quip about the last name, especially after having seen the Blade Movies with Teal'c earlier in the week.

Davis continued. "Lieutenant Drake had a sketchy past, but he showed extreme endurance and determination that he passed Marine Basic with honors. Given his engineering degree, he was quickly sent to the Sappers and he excelled in his position. Despite his skills though, he never passed beyond a First Lieutenant due to his attitude.

"During the Kosovo War of 1998, he went AWOL for two weeks. There were suspicions that he'd gone on some personal mission, but no evidence ever turned up. His actions earned him a dishonorable discharge. He joined several private military contractors after, eventually ending up with RedScope and offworld."

Landry sighed and shook his head. "Marines are more than just guts, that kid must have had serious hang-ups if he'd walk away from that."

Davis nodded. "According to his superiors, he always had a wild streak. It's not surprising he'd end up in a place like RedScope." Clicking the remote again, another face came up, this one thin and spindly. Ish'ta visibly straightened and tensed. "This is Santiago 'James' Garcia. He's a former CIA deep cover operative. He dealt primarily with Latin America and did several wetwork operations in Panama and Columbia."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "An assassin."

SG-1 resisted their chuckles, and Davis merely nodded. "More or less. He was last seen in Columbia trying to infiltrate a drug cartel. His operator was actually convinced he'd been dead for the past ten years. Disavowed and all." Davis stretched his neck, and clicked the remote again. The face of an attractive woman in her mid-twenties appeared. "The woman who was with them has a similar past, but a little more complicated, this is the last known picture we have of her from 3 years ago."

Sam raised an eyebrow, but it was Vala who said it. "Oh right, women are _always_ more complicated."

Resisting the urge to chide her, Davis continued. "This is Katze Rachel Friedman. She served in the IDF as an Airborne Helicopter Technician in the 669 Medevac unit." Davis turned to Ish'ta and Bra'tac. "That's a very elite force, the members are all highly trained and very competent. She did very admirably and was recruited into Mossad.

"She specifically used her skills learned in the 669 to infiltrate and sabotage both Lebanese and Syrian extremist operations. Specifically, her missions involved Hezbollah."

SG1 remained silent, the tension in the room had suddenly thickened and Ish'ta and Bra'tac didn't understand why.

Davis continued. "In early 2006, she was sent on a covert reconnaissance mission into Lebanon. She was captured and for almost a month there was no word of her whereabouts or condition. The next time the IDF saw her, she'd freed herself and was twenty pounds lighter and unable to hold even a simple conversation."

Sam said nothing, merely maintaining her poise and control. She had a _damn_ good idea what happened to Rachel but kept her mouth shut. Seeing the rest of the team remain silent, she gave a quiet prayer.

"She was hospitalized; her parents retook primary care of her. After several months, Rachel left Israel back for the United States. Why she joined RedScope we don't know, we just know that she did and now she's offworld."

Ish'ta sighed and shook her head. "She does not seem like the type to join such a group of people. She should have been better taken care of."

Davis sighed and nodded. "I agree, but you have to understand. The 669 division is one of the most elite forces the Israeli Defense Force has. She'd been trained in special forces, mechanical engineering, and with Mossad experience, I'm not surprised that she was able to talk her way past your Jaffa guards." Davis clicked the remote once more, the screen now changing to that of an older man, the one Ish'ta had fought with.

"Finally, we've got former SAS Colonel Malcolm Leach, He is… or rather _was_ a career soldier. Joined the British Army straight out of the University of Cambridge from which he'd graduated early, and quickly jumped the ranks to the Parachute Regiment, our friends in the UK military have been kind enough to forward us his CSV. He was selected for SAS deployment in the mobility troop and his first assignment was a black ops mission to Afghanistan during the Taliban War."

"Wait, he looks a lot older than his thirties." Vala interrupted. "I thought that whole Taliban thing was only a few years ago."

Both Cam and Sam winced. Vala had been watching too much TV recently given the boredom of being confined to the SGC. Cam explained. "I think he means the war in the eighties against Russia. We _helped_ the Taliban then."

Sam gave Cam a disapproving glare. "Technically we just sold them weapons and trained a few people." Seeing Cam give her the same glare, she acquiesced. "Oh, alright. We sent a few black ops as well. Can we get back on point?"

Turning back to a sarcastically smiling Davis, the Major nodded. "_Thank you._ In any case, his commanding officers had one resounding description for him; 'Ruthless'. Colonel Leach apparently fit all the criteria of a British Pitbull, once he sunk his teeth into something, nothing short of death would pry him loose."

Daniel smirked softly and leaned back in his chair. "Well, _that_ doesn't remind me of anyone." Seeing Vala give him a stony glare, Daniel added. "Someone with a love of tater tots."

Teal'c gave a near unnoticeable smile which caused Sam to restrain a snicker. The Jaffa loved it when he was complimented.

Major Davis retook control. "After the Taliban War, he served through several different conflicts, including campaigns against the IRA in Northen Ireland, deep insertions into Sierra Leone, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq in Desert Storm One… you name it, he's been there and he's earned honors."

"Sounds like most of the early SGC personnel." Sam said.

Davis nodded. " He was actually on the short list for recruitment, but as you'll see, there were… _issues _that weren't easily resolved. He finally reached Colonel in January of 1999. After 9-11, he was dispatched along with a squad of SAS parachutists to try and capture or kill high ranking Taliban officers."

Cam grimaced. "That had to suck. He probably knew some of them."

Davis nodded. "Indeed he did, and he was also the only member of his squad to make it back to the UK without a body bag around him – Amazingly, he got the job done. He never really talked about what happened, but satellite reconnaissance suggests one of his former contacts set him up and led him into a trap. The mere fact that this man survived a fortnight in Afghanistan on his own in enemy territory before he was picked up should tell you just how ingenious and dangerous he is."

While Ish'ta and Bra'tac didn't understand the implications, they both nodded in understanding. Malcolm was a warrior. Ish'ta had to admit that she'd tangled with a worthy foe. Had she not caught him by surprise, it could have easily ended a different way.

Sam raised her voice. "How does he go from SAS to RedScope?"

Davis nodded and clicked the remote again, this time a psychological profile popped up. "After his last mission, Colonel Leach was diagnosed with severe post traumatic stress disorder as well as a mild psychotic break. He was honorably discharged and for several years drifted from odd job to odd job. He didn't have any family left worth mentioning, and he refused any charity from even organizations trying to help him."

Bra'tac growled softly. "Why didn't your government take charge of him then? He'd given them the majority of his life."

The Earth Born members of the room shifted uncomfortably. Davis hated that the question had been asked of him. "Unfortunately… Colonel Leach fell through the cracks of our soldier support system… a system I'm sad to say has more cracks then I'd like to admit."

Ish'ta rolled her eyes. "No wonder he became a mercenary, your people failed him."

Nobody could deny it. But Landry pushed forward. "We can discuss Earth's internal problems and policies _later._ Continue, Major."

Major Davis sighed again, visibly deflated. He motioned back o the screen. "At the time, he was a ghost. We have no records of where he stayed. He literally disappeared in his home land.

"He popped up in US immigration in 2006, he got his full papers through less than legal channels and began to work for RedScope as a consultant. From there we've lost all track until today."

Bra'tac spoke with confidence. "You say he suffered mental instability. What sort of instability?"

Davis cleared his throat, and replied after a sigh. "He'd become obsessed with fanaticism, extremism. The last known interview with him has him advocating the use of weapons of mass destruction on our current political enemies who hold more… _fundamentalist _beliefs."

Cam raised his eyebrows. "He wanted to nuke Osama and Saddam?"

Davis nodded. "And Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong… " Davis hesitated. "…_and _the dome of the rock."

Daniel raised his eyebrows in shock. "_That's_ not good! Even a random gunman attack on that Mosque would have destabilized that entire area. He could have started World War Three!"

Davis nodded. "Which is why he'd been flagged for retrieval by Interpol and most of the western world's policing agencies when he left the UK; He gave them all the slip." Davis sighed. "By far he's the most dangerous of the four, he's mentally unstable but very clever, very cunning and very coherent, which means he can use all his SAS training and natural ingenuity for whatever his plans are. He probably jumped at the chance to go offworld, they all did. We won't be able to reason with these people and they _definitely_ won't want to deal with us after our raid on RedScope's off-world facility."

Teal'c interjected. "If this Colonel Leach has experience with weapons of mass destruction, is it possible he was the one to construct the nuclear device we found in the facility?"

Davis shrugged around. "I don't think so, but he'd definitely be trained to use weapons like that, and with his SAS background, it's even possible that he could use such weapons without compunction." Davis sighed and looked to Bra'tac and Ish'ta. "For your benefit, I'll explain. The Special Air Services or SAS is _by far_ the most well trained special forces our planet has to offer. If you want a _true_ comparison of an ash'rak, He's it."

Bra'tac and Ish'ta both looked at each other. The nervousness was evident even to the humans in the room.

The briefing had gone nowhere good, and SG-1 had realized that this wasn't going to be nearly as easy as it was to take down RedScope's initial facility. The thought was sobering to say the least.

* * *

**- Planet: P4C-M4N (Leilani) -**

**- Former LA Outpost -**

**- March 10th 2007 -**

**- 8:28 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Decian nodded in that slightly slimy way he could by angling it to the left. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Malcolm narrowed his eyes and motioned to the men Decian had sent. "Go on, get the supplies on the bloke's ship."

The Al'kesh Decian had brought was pristine, and watching his men load it up with various crates; he turned his back to Malcolm. "You keep this up, and I'll make sure you and your people are well taken care of."

Malcolm rolled his eyes and scoffed. "I'm _sure_ we'll be at the top of your list."

Turning back to Malcolm, Decian shrugged. "You've got to understand. You're Tau'ri. Nobody trusts you. Nobody cares about you. If anything, most people _hate_ you for what you've done to this galaxy."

"Killing the Goa'uld wasn't good I take it?"

Decian sneered. "Apophis, Anubis, the replicators, and now the Ori. Your people have done _miracles_ for the galaxy."

Malcolm grit his teeth, there were so many things he wanted to do, but he just needed to wait a little longer. "And how long have the Goa'uld been in charge? You know nothing about how change happens. Now take your cut and get the hell off this station."

Decian's face tensed, there was a definite animosity between the two men and he didn't feel safe here. "If you insist."

**-8:47pm-**

Rachel was a little surprised by how things had gone down. She sat in one of the larger observations rooms, likely used as a meeting hall or some other grandiose affair. Drake was outside the door patrolling, Garcia had opted to talk to a few of the other people Decian had brought.

She heard the Stargate activate, some of Decian's people had likely opted to go home instantly instead of with Decian, she wondered if they were the same ones Garcia had spoken to.

They'd been out here in the galaxy for only a few months now, most of them with RedScope. Rachel had even gotten used to wearing Jaffa clothing once she'd made a few modifications to make it more comfortable.

They'd gotten used to her cooking, 'Stirfry' wasn't just a slur anymore, they called her that out of esteem instead of her background. Amusingly, even Drake had calmed down and a conversation was possible. He still needed a castration, but at least he was civil.

This place made things easy, even in the most complicated manner of living, deceit, theft, subterfuge, Rachel still appreciated how these silent still moments would never change. It's just that everything changed around her.

The doors slid open behind her, and she turned her head to see Drake popping his head in. "We're ready, Leach wants us all in the control room."

Rachel nodded and dusted herself off. "Ever done anything like this before?"

Dan shrugged his shoulders and bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. "I've blown shit up before, _big_ shit, but nah, nothing like this."

Rachel chuckled and motioned for him to move ahead of her. Dan had recognized that she never let anyone behind her unless it was necessary, even them. "You'll like this, I promise."

**-8:54 pm-**

"The Alliance will know it was you, as soon as Kiva finds out you…"

Garcia snorted as he motioned his head to the active stargate. "Tell you what, you guys aren't dying today. If we're still here in a week, feel free to join us, If not, then it's no skin off your ass."

The now dozen Jaffa and Human workers Decian had allowed to go through the stargate instead of back with him grimaced, Obviously they hadn't gotten used to Earth slang. The one in the lead shook his head and grunted. "We'll see. I like your offer but as you say, I _like_ the skin on my ass."

Garcia fought his smirk, and let them through the gate. He spotted Rachel and Drake waiting for him over by the main hallway. They'd be alone again as soon as these men were gone, but hopefully this place would get a bit busy later on.

**-9:02 pm-**

Malcolm nodded in respect as the rest of the team arrived on the bridge, the window behind him showing a large scape of the rock the outpost was sitting on. Hovering around them, Decian's Al'Kesh had just taken off.

Now it was just making sure everything was in order. "Garcia, did anyone check the crates we sent?"

The lanky man crossed his arms and smiled. "Just the ones I wanted them to."

"Good. Drake, you made sure the extra crate got on board?"

The tall Serbian nodded in reply. "Nobody even asked what it was."

Finally, Malcolm turned to Rachel and flexed his fists. "Are you sure the trigger mechanism was attached to the sensor package properly?"

Behind Malcolm, off in the void, the Al'Kesh opened a hyperspace window. As it neared the aperture, it suddenly blossomed like an orange red flower of nuclear fission. The broken and burning hunks of alloy floated into the now closing window leaving only a donut shaped flame around the now disappeared window. Soon even that faded away, leaving no evidence of anything beyond particulate matter.

Rachel raised an eyebrow, her face bathed in the light of the nuclear detonation. "I'd say so."

Malcolm gave a rare toothy smile. "Ladies and gentleman, I think we just opened for business."


	5. Impressions

**Chapter 5 – Impressions**

**

* * *

**

**- Planet: P7U-8MW (Sekesh) -**

**- Uninhabited Garden World -**

**- March 27th 2007 -**

**- 8:30 pm Local Time -**

**

* * *

**

"That him, Vega?"

Captain Alicia Vega zeroed in on the incoming target as she lay on her stomach using a loose bush as cover. Vega let her finger hover above the safety of her battle rifle as she turned slightly and whispered. "I think so, sir… he's heading right for us."

Colonel Reynolds remained in his hidden position. The man who'd just come through the Stargate was pretty much on time, if it was him. He and his team had been waiting for hours now, and he _really_ needed to pee. Reynolds couldn't imagine how the rest of his team felt given they'd had lunch before coming to this planet. "Keep hidden, Vega. Teldy, on me. Gudgin, watch our six."

Around him, three quiet grunts of confirmation. This little crest on the side of the hill opposite the Stargate made a perfect vantage point, and Reynolds was hoping that the Tok'ra hadn't led them into _another_ trap.

Major Teldy got up from her hidden position behind a rock, her camouflage blending well in the early morning light. This planet's day and night cycle was a little longer than Earth normal, and daybreak was only beginning. Teldy took up a covering position behind Reynolds as he dusted himself off.

Marine Captain Gudgin shifted from his crouched position, and took up the better angle Teldy had before, now keeping his camouflaged G36E close to his shoulder, ready to fire if needed.

Reynolds moved down the crest, keeping low and continually checking both his six where Teldy followed with her P90, and ahead where the supposed Tok'ra agent was coming to meet them.

The hill was mostly barren, but a few small crests had been able to retain enough water and were exposed to enough light for shrubs and bushes to grow. It was a stark contrast to the rest of the planet which was green and mild, much like many Stargate seeded planets in the Milky Way. Evidently, the Ancients were partial to the Boreal Shield.

The Tok'ra had noticed them, and Reynolds gave a mild thanks that he didn't raise his weapon. Reynolds waved Teldy into a less hostile posture with his left hand, his G36E held in one arm with the stock stuck snugly against his shoulder. Teldy lowered her P90, but only enough to not openly appear hostile.

The Tok'ra quickly scurried close, his head darting from side to side. Close up now, Reynolds saw that he was dressed up in typical Lucian Alliance clothing. "Colonel Mitchell?"

Teldy stifled a snort, but kept quiet. Reynolds checked his scoff and shook his head. "Depends who you ask, I'm Colonel Reynolds. SG-1 had a trip to Vis Uban planned so we're your contact."

The Tok'ra looked up towards the crest, oddly he seemed to know exactly where Reynolds' team was. His flanged voice spoke signifying the symbiote. "I was expecting SG-1, but you'll have to do." Reynolds checked his snort, damn arrogant Tok'ra. "I sent word for you because I've been infiltrating the Lucian Alliance for months now. They will be here soon to have a meeting between their factions. I believe they're planning a raid on the Free Jaffa."

Reynolds pumped his fist and sighed. "_Great._ They're still fighting over that last botched meeting they had. What does this have to do with us though? Why not warn Bra'tac?"

The Tok'ra turned back to the stargate, obviously they didn't have much time. "Rumor has it a team of Tau'ri assassins recently deposed a Lucian Alliance lieutenant. They've claimed responsibility for the attack on the Jaffa several weeks ago."

Teldy sighed and cursed under her breath. She grinned and deadpanned "Great! Let's drop C4 all over and blow them to hell."

The Tok'ra shrugged indecisively. "Perhaps, but you wouldn't take them all, killing the entire leadership would throw them into disarray, they might strike back."

Reynolds bowed his head and nodded. "What happens when you bite the head off a chicken, Annie? Thing runs around tearing stuff up without it. We kill all these guys and their underlings go crazy, maybe even target Earth since we have the Asgard Tech."

Teldy nodded in agreement, then shuddered. "I don't even wanna ask. So what? Just take out _some?_ How do we do that, sir?"

Reynolds saw that the Tok'ra was confused with the Earth dialect, but continued. "The best I can advise is use your C4, watch, listen. Once my group leaves, detonate and this could all be over. Perhaps you can use the intelligence you gather here to help the Jaffa with the Alliance. Dealing with your rogue people would be a bonus,"

Reynolds nodded. "Not _our_ people, would you people get that right for once?"He then clicked his radio and turned back to the hillcrest. "Vega, get that directional mic set up. Make sure you're recording everything here and keep low. Rules of engagement: only shoot if they find you, over."

_"Copy that, sir. Fishy's got me covered."_

Smirking at the nickname Captain Vega had given the Marine, Reynolds lookd over to Teldy. Teldy smiled knowing it'd been a bad thing to give Vega access to the internet.

Together with her, Reynolds walked over to the Stargate and with careful deliberation, they buried what little C4 they had and set the remote detonators. It was a quick affair, and all three began to head back to the hill.

Reynolds turned to the Tok'ra "So you're sure these mercs'll be here? How do you know all this?"

The Tok'ra rubbed his hands, now calm. "This is to be the first meeting between them and the Alliance, I've been working to get into one of the larger ones and-"

The Stargate began to activate behind them. Reynolds quickly looked around and saw a decently sized boulder for cover, but nothing else within range. "Crap!" Teldy had already crouched and prepared, it would only be seconds for whoever was coming to come through. Together with Teldy, he crouched behind the boulder.

It quickly became clear that it wasn't big enough to obscure them both separately; Reynolds hesitated doing what he knew needed to be done.

Teldy didn't have that worry though and quickly hopped onto and straddled her commanding officer pulling him into a hug. "Sorry, sir; I _don't_ want to get shot in the _ass_."

Reynolds checked his snort at the subtle dig at their new teammember, but was too shocked to say anything.

The Tok'ra ran a hand through his hair slicking it back, completely unaffected by Reynolds' look of shock. The two soldiers were relatively covered by the boulder, and they stayed as still as they could.

Reynolds heard the Tok'ra scurry towards the gate, and then other footsteps joined.

"Uhh… sir?"

Wincing hard, Reynolds whispered as Teldy could feel his reaction to the situation. "I'm married, I _swear." _

**-8:45pm-**

Alicia controlled her breathing, and very deliberately put the earbud in. The directional mic was quite sensitive and it was a delicate operation to make sure it didn't deafen her.

What was more distracting was seeing Reynolds' embarrassed face through her scope. Given that they were literally only about 15 feet away from where the first group of Lucian Alliance were now huddled, it was definitely amusing albeit incredibly dangerous. Alicia's finger hovered over the trigger of her battle rifle.

She listened and recorded the conversations, mostly about how the loss of a promising lieutenant in the Alliance had opened a vacuum of power. Typical politics. Alicia hated it all.

Reynolds and Teldy maintained their hidden position - Alicia knew that they'd set up C4 charges and with the boulder, it was quite likely they'd survive the detonation, albeit perhaps with some hearing damage.

Alicia wished radio communication was possible, but they were too close, one wrong sound and they'd get caught out. The Tok'ra was busy redirecting the Alliance to remain near the gate, avoiding accidental discovery of Reynolds and Teldy.

More and more arrived, and within ten minutes, almost twenty people had gathered around the gate, greeting each other but keeping their hands above their weapons.

That was the strangest thing, they were armed with a wide assortment. Some carried Zats, but the majority had projectile weapons. They must have been learning from Earth that projectiles were still the kings of killing.

Aliica smirked, as a sharpshooter, she rarely ran out of ammo. She idly wondered if the Lucian Alliance had snipers when the gate dialed again.

The wormhole flashed open, and the four or five leader types stood behind their escorts. The group waited for whoever was coming.

Alicia sighted in, and spotted a familiar face. His face had been posted to the entire SGC as a 'Most Wanted' bulletin. He looked quite smug.

Listening to her mic, she could barely make out his voice. "_Well look what we've found here. The rag-tag Lucian Alliance." _He held his hands up as another three people came in behind him as escort, each armed with distinctly Earth made assault weapons. They were dressed in a strange mix of Jaffa leathers, and woven-in Kevlar vests.

Blinking to clear her vision, she saw something strange around the rogue Colonel's chest. Alicia flinched and choked as she heard him then say. _"Ah you've noticed. Lacing Naquadah into explosives is easier than I thought." _ He pointed out some kind of electronics on his chest. "_A gyroscopic trigger means if I go belly up, this blows. So you've got quite the reason to listen to what I've got to say."_

Alicia had seen naquadah laced explosions before. Even _here_ in the cliffs she wasn't safe. The C4 was no longer an option as long as he was there. She hesitated, but then whispered as soft as she could into her radio. "_Vega here,, abort thee-four! Abort thee-four!" _She forced a lisp, knowing the 'C' sound was much easier to detect.

To her relief, no one heard Reynolds' and Teldy's radios… as far as she could tell. She focused hard on the conversation, using the mic to record every useful bit. They spoke of somebody named Decian's demise, the Jaffa instability, and most of all, whether or not the rogue team should be allowed with them. Given the fact that they carried squad level automatic weapons, and had a bomb that could vaporize everything but the gate within a hundred feet, it seemed that they were grudgingly accepted.

The meeting lasted only about twenty minutes, they talked a lot about a specific planet and the chance to recoup some of their losses in the past few months. Alicia had no clue what they were talking about so she just kept a careful eye on her exposed team and enemy targets while memorizing the address.

Finally, after much negotiation and several almost shootouts, the meeting was finished. The Rogue Colonel motioned over to the gate and said to one darker skinned woman who seemed the leader of the pack. _"Ladies first, but we'll make an exception in your case."_

The woman snarled but relented given the explosive vest. She motioned for her escort to move and they began to dial out. She and the Tok'ra spy left without a fuss, but the Colonel then looked to everyone else._"Where are my manners? How about you all leave before I? I'm sure you're all anxious to get home."_

Alicia cursed softly. The rogue Colonel was smart enough to let everyone else leave first, lest someone toss a grenade after him. The Lucian Alliance representatives all grumbled, and one after the other began to leave.

Soon it was down to the RedScope mercenaries, and Vega struggled to make out what planet they dialed. She instantly recognized it as Chulak, and cursed again realizing that they were leaving a bread crumb trail in the wrong direction. _Damn, _they were good.

Reynolds and Teldy were _still_ in that awkward position, but it looked like soon they'd be able to avoid looking at each other for awhile. Alicia kept her scope on the Colonel, not paying attention to either of the other three.

She couldn't fire despite wanting to. Reynolds had been clear. Only shoot if she was shot at. So with severe reservation, she held her fire as the three other rogues entered the stargate leaving only the rogue Colonel behind.

Just before he entered the Stargate's event horizon though, he turned to the hill, seemingly stared right down the barrel of Alicia's rifle, and gave a small mocking salute with a teasing twin pucker of his lips.

Alicia gulped, she'd heard SAS troops were the best of the best, but she hadn't realized just what that meant until now.

* * *

**- Planet: P2X-3YZ (Earth) -**

**- The Pentagon -**

**- March 30th 2007 -**

**- 1:13 pm Local Time -**

* * *

This wasn't good. Sam had learned a thing or two about politics in her career, and she knew that taking forever and a day in a meeting meant that things were going slowly.

The two small yet somewhat comfortable chairs were at least a decent place to wait, the little table between her and Cam made all the difference in the world.

She wished the others were here. Not that Cam wasn't pleasant company - far from it especially given his foresight to bring a miniature chess set - but Sam missed her old team.

Daniel would no doubt be berating the political system's lethargy, his views while opinionated, usually spoke true and from experience. Sam didn't like to forget the fact that Daniel had likely been to more countries and dealt with more systems than the rest of them combined.

Teal'c would be silent as always, but saying more with his presence and simple demeanor than anything else. Sam had grown to feel very comfortable around the Jaffa, maybe it was the brutal honesty and complete lack of Earth hang-ups, or maybe he was just someone she could trust implicitly.

That left General O'Neill, she'd known him the longest for maybe about a day. Their first words to each other hadn't been the most amicable, but it was a long forgotten memory. Now he was something constant, something she could count on in the hardest moments where even her indomitable spirit was feeling down.

Jack was nearby though, and Cam had just made a critical move. "Checkmate in four moves." Sam slid her rook across the battlefield, ironically only about three inches. This foyer in the deep recesses of the Pentagon made for a quiet place to think.

Cam - dressed in his formal blues - looked down at the board and scratched his temple. "Well, I'll be darned. You're right. How'd I miss that?"

Sam shrugged and began to reposition the small magnetic pieces. "You're too aggressive, tradition says you should hold the middle, but try keeping your rear flank covered and you should do better next time. That's two-nothing."

Cam growled softly and rubbed his face. "Wish I'd brought a deck'a cards. Hold em's my game."

Before they could continue playing, the doors off to the side opened, and a few very well dressed men walked out. One of them was in blues, and he turned to where Cam and Sam were waiting.

Both soldiers got up, spotting the senators and IOA leadership going in the _opposite_ direction. Only Woolsey stayed behind, but he lingered by the door while the three left had their conversation.

Jack didn't look that happy, but then again it was rare that he'd smile anyways. "Approved. They wanted to send SG-2 alone, but I convinced em we needed the best. You'll have to babysit Reynolds so pack some Gerbers."

Cam sighed in relief. This was a sore point for him and Sam could see he was glad that the IOA had seen reason. Cam chuckled at the mention of Reynolds. "Thank you, sir. This means a lot to us."

Jack's lips crept up in a grin, and Sam knew what was coming. "I gathered from the way you pestered Woolsey."

Sam bit her lip. "Sorry, sir. We'll be more considerate in the future."

Jack scoffed softly and turned to Woolsey who was barely out of earshot. "Considerate? You shoulda killed him! Now I gotta have _lunch_ with the guy." Jack gave a pedantic little wave to Woolsey, assuring him that he was taken into consideration.

Cam snickered and then shook his head. "Next time, sir. Now if you'll excuse me, Jackson wanted to know right away." He gave a smart salute and about faced towards the doors leading to the exit.

Sam turned and called. "I'll catch up, Cam!" Cam gave some incomprehensible parting word, and Sam turned back to Jack. She smiled genuinely and said. "Thank you."

Sam saw in Jack's eyes that he could tell she was more disturbed by this whole ordeal than the others. She didn't show it in her words, rather he just knew from her subconscious communication. "Lunch?"

Sam raised an eyebrow. She gave Jack a quirky smile. "You buying?"

Jack's right lip crept up, this wasn't a sarcastic smile as he hooked his thumb again. "He will. We've got a lot to talk about. Ori, Multi-Gigaton nuclear bombs, Atlantis, The end of all life as we know it."

There was something Jack wasn't telling her, but that was okay, Jack had a way of saying what he wanted to without ever actually wording it. "Everything but the kitchen sink?"

"Oh,I'm_ sure_ there's a sink in there somewhere."

Sam laughed softly. She loved these moments. It reminded her why she still kept in contact with Jack. "Long as I don't do the dishes."

Motioning with his head, Jack allowed Sam to fall into line as they walked back towards Woolsey. The politician nodded courteously as they arrived. "Colonel Carter. I trust General O'Neill explained why I wanted to see you?"

Sam resisted rolling her eyes. Seeing Jack's mischievous grin, the teasing could commence. "He may have mentioned a thing or two. I have no issue as long as you do the dishes."

"Excellent, then…" Woolsey nodded politely, but then did a double take at what he took as a non-sequitar. "…Pardon, dishes?"

Jack cleared his throat and pointed to the exit. "Cake awaits."

* * *

**- Planet: P4C-M4N (Leilani) -**

**- Former LA Outpost -**

**- April 8th 2007 -**

**- 12:30 pm Local Time -**

* * *

"So how we getting there?"

Malcolm shrugged and motioned his head to the side, indicating the hangar deck in that direction. "Al'Kesh, we've still got Ish'ta's codes. Kiva's people said the Jaffa didn't change them. Bleedin' idiots."

Sitting in what had become their dining room, Drake rubbed his forehead and looked to those around him. Rachel sat with her back to the wall across from him, Malcolm next to her with his knife out having diced something akin to a pineapple. Garcia sat next to Drake, hand drumming the table.

Some of Decian's old crew worked and ate around them They maintained the place in working order, traded the supplies they'd raided, and even gave Rachel a break on cooking duty. Drake noticed that they seemed happy. Oddly enough, Drake felt good about giving them a great deal for their services.

Drake sighed with no small sense of worry. "So we get hired by RedScope to kill Lucians and Jaffa, and now we're working with one to hurt the other? Someone wanna explain this to me?"

Malcolm was about to reply, when Rachel did it for him. "Are you seriously that blind, you nudnik? They're the closest thing to something we can trust. The Jaffa would just turn us in, we can't do all this alone unless we want to be just criminals."

Garcia smirked and looked up at Rachel. "You mean like the A-Team? I call Face."

Drake bit back a snort and turned to Malcolm. "Well you're obviously Hannibal, I'm Murdoch, so that makes you…" he smiled at Rachel.

Rachel narrowed her eyes, but said with a menacing tone. "I _pity_ the fool who tempts an experienced castrator."

Garcia laughed out loud, and Drake winced. Malcolm just rolled his eyes and gently brushed aside the table getting everyone's attention. "They're stealing a Ha'tak. It's not rocket science. We fly their strike force in, get in deep before they can react and blitz." Malcolm turned to them all. "And if maybe we end up with a little friendly fire once we're in the air, who's going to question it?"

Drake still shook his head. "They're common thugs with automatic weapons. I had enough of that shit when I was growing up. I know _we_ can shoot straight, but some alien drug dealer? I'm not about to let one of those guys on my six and I _sure_ as hell know none of you want that."

Garcia turned to Drake and nodded. "True enough, but that's the plan. Granted we said we'd _lead_ the main strike force, but seriously, do you _think_ we're that stupid?"

Rachel leaned in closely and motioned Drake to come in as well. He smiled sarcastically and leaned in as well. "You ever do war history?"

Drake shook his head as he continued smiling. "Nah, too busy learning to build and blow shit up."

"You ever learn the tactics used in the Iraq/Iran war?"

Drake lost his smile and he raised an eyebrow. "What does _that_ have to do with anything?"

Malcolm leaned in as well and spoke with determination. "When Iraq invaded, those bleeding Iranians were _outclassed._ Saddam had professionally trained troops, and you know what Iran countered with?"

Drake shrugged. "Tanks?"

Rachel huffed in irritation and gave Drake a glancing smack on the head. "Ooof, you're such a nudnik."

Drake rubbed his head and silenced; now facing Malcolm. The Colonel sighed and explained. "Ahmadinejad, the little crazy tosser who's in charge of that nation, convinced thousands of children to wrap themselves up in blankets and run ahead of the Iranian soldiers to clear the minefields. They called it the Basiji."

Drake's eyes opened wide. "You're shittin' me."

Garcia harrumphed. "Nah, it's true. Iraqi soldiers didn't know what to do, man. They had to shoot but there were just so many… Those pendejos who sent em are the real monsters." He took a sip of his coffee-like drink and sighed. "Drug lords are bad, I've seen men die begging to die faster, but that's killing a few, maybe dozens tops. Ahmadinejad killed a generation."

Drake was stunned to the core, he'd _never_ heard of this. "No… _no fucking way!_ _Kids!_ The _fuck_ you talking about? No, no _way_ is that shit true!" He fell back into his seat, unsure of how this pertained to them.

Rachel scoffed and leaned back in her seat. "Yeah, it is true, and we're about to do the same." Rachel's voice lowered to a primal fury. "Only instead of innocent brainwashed kids who can't even read or write, we're gonna use criminals who kill, rape, and addict innocent people to their drug riddled corn."

Malcolm got up out of his seat and sheathed his knife. "Makes _all_ the difference in the world."

* * *

**- Planet: P3T-T4L (Sok'Met) -**

**- Free Jaffa Shipyard/Outpost -**

**- April 10th 2007 -**

**- 7:23 pm Local Time -**

* * *

"You're sure nobody knows we're here?"

Rak'nor nodded, he was one of the few people Bra'tac still trusted implicitly and that trust was quite the honor. "Yes, Colonel Mitchell. As far as the Jaffa on the planet are concerned, you do not exist."

Half of SG-1 and SG-2 stood ready to fight off a raid. They waited around in one of the many armories of the Free Jaffa Nation Ha'tak that was being resupplied, Cam hefted his FN-P90 and pointed to the exits. "Yeah, well maybe you'll wanna tell the guards we exist. Don't want 'em shooting at us by mistake."

Rak'nor sighed irritably. "Allow me to rephrase, _only_ the guards and high ranked Jaffa know you are here. The workers know nothing and it has been kept secret until today. No one could have gotten a message to the Alliance about this trap."

Reynolds' team remained slouching about, jittery about the upcoming fight. Sam and Teal'c were off on their own, having a private little chat with Sam obviously doing most of the talking. Daniel and Vala had remained on Earth doing some research into their search for the 'Ark of Truth' as Daniel put it. Cam missed the full team effect he knew they had.

Cam was nervous about this whole situation. The last time he'd gone up against these mercenaries he'd had to bring a castle down on them – literally. With the help of the Lucian Alliance, how much more dangerous were they now?

"Good, now just make sure none of them get in the crossfire and we should be good." He turned back to Rak'nor and nodded. "Remember to call us over the radio once you know for a fact they're coming. We'll pop out and ambush them. They'll never expect it."

Rak'nor nodded and fingered the radio he'd been given. "Let us hope your plan works. We cannot afford to lose many Ha'tak, we are still learning how to build them ourselves."

Cam could sense the mild rebuke, so he kept his mouth shut and nodded. Ever since the Supergate, the Jaffa had just been getting more and more distasteful to work with. Where was a nice alien ally like the Asgard when you needed them? At this point, Cam would even break tradition and prefer to work with the Furlings… wherever and _whatever_ they were.

**-7:35pm-**

Malcolm put his radio down having just gotten the message from Rachel on the bridge of the Al'Kesh. "Alright, they're giving us clearance to land. We'll touch down next to the Ha'tak and storm in." He continued his less than rousing speech to the Lucian Alliance shock troops they had. "The Jaffa aren't expecting us, so rush. Blow through as many as you have to but get inside the Ha'tak. Once you're in, follow the map we drew up and stay together. Don't worry if one of you goes down, just keep pushing ahead."

The Lucian Alliance 'soldiers' looked worried, but Malcolm didn't really care. They'd do their job, and then they'd find themselves filled with Earth munitions.

Malcolm hefted his FN-FAL Paratrooper Variant. He'd been lucky to find it in the supplies they'd recovered from RedScope's offworld facility and he loved it like a child. He flicked the safety off; a little nostalgic, but definitely the kind of thing that he could kill with. Garcia had gone simple, just an MP5k and extra clips. Full Metal Jacket bullets meant even the Jaffa Armor wouldn't help much, though ceramics would still block it effortlessly.

Drake had opted to carry the big guns, using an M249 Mk48, easily enough to chew through Jaffa armor both front and back.

Rachel was the only odd one out, carrying a bandoleer of incendiary grenades she'd made, C4, and a Zat for personal protection. She also carried a backpack full of the tools needed to break through just about any Jaffa security. All that was left was to storm the castle.

The Lucians were dressed ridiculously - Malcolm had considered giving them vests to cover their cheap leather and cotton clothing, but it wasn't worth it. He himself was in his modified BDUs, even incorporating some energy absorbing plates that RedScope had stolen from the SGC's suppliers.

His entire team was in the same garb, they looked like Alien Commandos. The Al'kesh landed soon after, and the party began.

**-8:00pm-**

"_Colonel Mitchell, I've just received a report of weapons fire coming from the gantry where there is access to the Ha'tak. I would say your rogue team is here."_

Cam grunted irritably. The entire team around him locked and loaded as he replied to Rak'nor. "How many times do I have to tell you people… they're _not_ a rogue team! They're…"

_"Regardless…" _Rak'nor interrupted. "_…they number twenty if not more. Our perimeter guards are overwhelmed."_

In the background, Cam could make out both staff weapons _and_ projectile weapons. Just like Reynolds' report of the Lucian Alliance meeting said. "Copy, we'll take positions in the cargo bay, that's the most likely position they'll have to pass and we'll have them trapped."

_"Good luck, Colonel! Kree!"_

Cam shuddered, and quickly signaled to the team. "Alright, lock, load and fire at will! Zat's only to start, but if they fight back you give em hell. Let's hope a little shock and awe gets 'em to surrender."

Sam took her position between Teal'c and Cam as they exited the hallway, her P90 ready and on full automatic. Something told her that even with Zats this was going to be incredibly dangerous. She knew the reports, these weren't the average mercenaries. They wouldn't surrender, and she prayed to god they'd fall back and end up being captured.

Quickly, they reached the cargo area and spread out to take cover behind various crates and consoles. Sam nestled in behind a large golden crate and took a few deep breaths.

Teal'c was as always nearby, hiding behind an even bigger vertical crate. In each hand he held a Zat ready to fire, his P90 strapped tightly to his chest just in case.

They waited, the sounds of gunfire outside told them it was close. Just a little longer…

The doors to the cargo area opened and a surprisingly well armed group of Lucian Alliance criminals came through. They quickly moved through not even seeking cover, completely oblivious to the trap as they visually scanned the room. Cam clicked his radio and uttered one word. "Now."

The two SG teams popped out of cover and fired, the Alliance criminals didn't stand a chance against the wall of electricity heading their way and they quickly fell, some firing off badly aimed snap shots but none posing any significant threat. Teldy cried out in pain as a ricochet hit her in the side, but her armor kept the round from penetrating.

The teams waited another few seconds, but the crowd of Alliance troops were it. The rogue Earth team had to be in there.

Cam gave Teal'c and Sam hand signals, and then he looked over at Reynolds."Cover!"

Reynolds got the hint and his team spread out to cover SG-1 once he'd checked on Teldy. Sam kept low, and instantly went for the females knowing she'd recognize Rachel Friedman from her photos.

Quickly, they turned the bodies over; none of them were recognizable, but several were armed with projectile weapons. Sam winced realizing that the Lucian Alliance was learning and becoming a credible threat.

Cam and Teal'c finished checking the others and policed their weapons. Cam shook his head and cursed. "Dammit! They're not here!"

Just as Reynolds and his team left cover, they heard the distinct report of automatic weapons fire from _behind_ them, deeper _inside_ the Ha'tak. Teldy cursed and kicked a crate. "_Bastards! _They went around us!"

Cam grit his teeth and pushed his way through. "Dammit! Come on! Forget these idiots! Let the Jaffa handle 'em."

-8:09pm-

Malcolm saw several Jaffa at the end of the hallway. Without hesitation, he popped off two pairs of single shots, three Jaffa fell to the ground from head and chest shots.

Rachel kept beside him covering him while Drake and Garcia held the rear. She wasn't surprised that Malcolm had figured out the SGC was onto them. It was a pretty safe bet that they or the Tok'ra had spies within the Alliance, not to mention that feeling of being watched on the neutral planet.

Now it was simply a matter of getting to the bridge, sealing it off and opening all the airlocks once they made it to orbit.

Drake screamed from behind. "Contact! SGC!"

Malcolm didn't hesitate, and continued rushing forward to a hallway junction. It'd provide cover and some relative safety. Drake's machine gun fired in long bursts - suppressing the teams following them. The smell of spent cartridges quickly filled the hallway, the slight ringing in his ears from the confined area evident even beneath his earplugs.

Rachel pulled a homemade incendiary grenade out of her bandoleer and screamed. "Drake! Move it or fry!"

Malcolm smirked, explosives had the danger of taking out a critical system, but flames were just as intimidating with less chance of damaging the ship. "Drake! Garcia! Arses here on the double!"

From around the corner, Drake spun around and slammed his back into the opposite corner with his gun at the ready. He rained thunderous suppressive fire behind him, the flashes of his shots giving him e demonic strobe appearance as Garcia skidded past and ran down a few steps, then spun as well and covered Drake's retreat in a grasshopper move with his MP5.

They knew the layout of the Ha'tak well, it was almost the same as the beached one they lived on. Rachel lit the fuse of the incendiary grenade and screamed. "Fire in the hole!"

Drake saw the lit bomb in her hand and sped up, he did _not_ want to get caught in the blast. The small cylindrical container lofted over Drake's shoulder and bounced against a wall before settling into the corner where Drake had held back the SG teams.

**-8:11pm-**

Teal'c instantly noticed the grenade and stopped. "Grenade!" he spun around and grabbed Sam who was right by him and used his body as cover until they ducked behind one of the hallway's columns. The rest of the team did the same just as the smoking incendiary grenade finally detonated.

It spewed out a cloud of orange flame that stuck to the walls and ceilings. The flash was bright enough to blind momentarily and Cam grimaced. _"Go around! Go around!"_

The team fell back from the engulfing flames mere feet away from them, sweat beading on their exposed skin and breath short from the suddenly oxygen deprivation. Sam shook off the shock of being thrown about like a ragdoll and nodded to Teal'c who gave a nod back.

As the whole team reached the last intersection they'd crossed, Sam looked out the window to the dusk sky. A glint of light caught her attention for a moment, but she focused on her mission. Something didn't feel right and it wasn't the surprise chase.

Cam turned to Reynolds. "I think we should split up, they'll be heading to the-"

Alarms sounded suddenly, and everyone spun to keep their backs to the wall instinctively. Cam looked around but he couldn't see what the issue was. Sam realized that if they hadn't triggered the alarm before now, this had to be something different. She clicked her radio. "Rak'nor! This is Carter! What's going on!" Sam didn't wait for Rak'nor's reply as she looked out the window and into the sky. The glint of light before had resolved and she could just barely make it out. _"Oh my god."_

**_-8:15pm-_**

Rachel had just backhanded the technician who'd hidden behind the corner of the corridor and jumped them with a spanner in his hands. Obviously, that Jaffa wasn't much of a warrior as a pair of punches and a kick before her backhand was sufficient to take him out of the fight.

The Ha'tak's PA system began to scream, as did the alarms around them. They were only a minute away from the bridge, but something felt strange. "Colonel, what is that?"

Drake scurried to a halt and took deep breaths, his face covered in sweat and his arms bulging from carrying the heavy weapon. He released the box clip from his M249 and let it fall to the floor. He reached into his pack and pulled out one of his pair of extra clips and quickly began to reload. Garcia was breathing heavily too, not used to the strenuous combat.

Malcolm listened carefully amidst the alarms.

_"All workers to the Chappa'ai! Guards to stations! All pilots to your ships!"_

Rachel heard it too and looked to Malcolm. "What is it?"

Malcolm had spent considerable time learning his enemies' ways. That Jaffa had spoken with terror. The kind of terror he'd heard all too often in his life.

There was only one thing that could terrify the Jaffa so. "Ori." He turned to the team. "Fuck it, if the Ori are here this ship is never taking off again, We need to double time it back to our ship and get the hell off this world!"

The team gave each other looks, and realized that like always, things had led them into hell. Now they just had to climb out.

**-8:21pm-**

Cam slowly came to a stop as his team exited the Ha'tak's loading ramp, watching in the skies as Death Gliders now took off to engage Ori Fighters coming down from orbit. The dusk sky was lined with the odd smattering of clouds glowing an eerie red, Around them, pandemonium reigned as the Jaffa scrambled to defend themselves.

The Ori Mothership was well out of range, but the fighters were swooping in over the settlement, strafing fire with their high yield cannons. Cam watched as geysers of flame and dirt flew up into the air.

The Jaffa unleashed everything they had, hoping that somehow they'd be able to hold their ground long enough to evacuate. The two SG teams kept low and moved away from the Ha'tak, the entire area was a dry plain and offered little cover. The few buildings the Jaffa had erected would have to do and they kept their backs on either side from the loading ramp even as explosions and flames belched up and into the sky.

Rak'nor came up to them having just run over from the now active Stargate. "Colonel Carter, Teal'c!"

Cam grumbled softly, these old friends of SG1 rarely ever acknowledged him in situations like these. "Over here!"

Rak'nor had armed himself with a Staff Weapon and the torso plate of Jaffa armor. He skidded to a halt and kept low, the constant pulsing of Staff Cannon emplacements and the roar of fighter engines above them kept the din deafening. Teal'c kept his head down. "How many must be evacuated?"

Another explosion from the first wave of fire from the Ori fighters lit up the darkening sky. A death glider had been torn in half as it tried to take off, the two pieces crashing against the Ha'tak leaving a scorch mark and spreading debris all over the area. The team covered their heads instinctively from errant debris.

The same Ori fighter buzzed over, uncaring of several staff cannons firing on its shields. Two Death Gliders followed soon after, firing their cannons as fast as they could cycle.

Rak'nor covered his head from the heat wave passing over them, Jaffa were screaming and preparing to defend against the inevitable barrage of Ori troops, at least on the ground they might stand a chance. He turned to the team and screamed over the chaos. "We have hundreds here! We've dialed a safe world but we need help to hold the Chappa'ai against their advance!"

The Ha'tak behind them suddenly roared to life to everyone's shock, but instead of its engines, the cannon emplacements on it began to track and fire barrages of fire at the dozens of fighters in the air.

Chaos reigned, and Sam knew that things were going to get a lot worse before they got better.

**-8:26pm-**

Malcolm threw his fist into the Jaffa's face, reached out with his other hand grabbing his collar, and then swung him around and into the wall behind him. Garcia then calmly aimed and fired a burst killing the Jaffa worker instantly.

Rachel grimaced, but didn't question it as the team rushed down the corridor towards the ring room from auxiliary weapons control. _Anywhere_ was better than here and with the Ha'tak on auto targetting, they might stand a chance.

Drake continued to hold the rear, his entire torso drenched with sweat. They'd only heard stories of how the Ori fought and he was in no mood to verify some of the more horrific tales.

Malcolm continued to lead the pack - the ring room was deserted and he motioned to Rachel. "Send me first, I'll tell you whether it's clear or not."

Rachel hesitated a second, but then nodded. She walked over to the control panel and keyed in the nearest available connection. "Alright, this should put you south of the landing pad. Any luck and our ride'll still be there."

Malcolm chuckled and yelled as the rings came down around him. "We'll just steal another if it isn't!"

**-8:29pm-**

Alicia cursed as she flung herself to the ground to avoid the incoming Ori staff blast. 

The Jaffa around her didn't understand the term, but kept up the fire. She rolled away and took cover behind the wagons and rocks the Jaffa had brought to surround the gate and caught her breath. That was too close.

The rest of her team had spread out and thinned the herd of Ori Troops trying to overwhelm the stargate area where dozens rushed through to safety – Jaffa soldiers protecting them the whole way.

The paths leading to the Stargate were narrow and a natural chokepoint thanks to the tents and buildings erected around, and as long as the gliders and Al'Kesh in the air kept the Ori fighters busy, they'd be able to hold this position for a limited time.

Alicia groaned in pain from having hit the ground so hard and rolled over and around. She come to rest on her stomach in a prone position ready to fire.

On the other side of the circular perimeter, Sam pulled a grenade out of her vest. "Frag out!" She flung it over her trusty rock cover and towards the advancing Ori. They had no clue what the weapon was, and didn't even bother to seek cover.

The dull and throaty thump of the grenade detonating was washed out by the dozens of staff weapons firing - the five or six automatic weapons intermittent. Sam popped out from her cover, and put an Ori soldier who'd been stunned by her grenade down with an accurate burst. Another two beside him dropped from multiple Jaffa staff shots, but the Jaffa were being whittled by mass fire and many had to be dragged through the Stargate.

Cam kept up his suppressive fire, but realized that their hold on the position was tenuous at best. "Get through the gate! We'll cover you! Go go go!" Cam screamed to Reynolds.

Reynolds let loose another burst from his rifle and flinched as shrapnel from a destroyed Death Glider rained down around them. His face had been nicked and blood seeped down from the corner of his eye to his lip.

Reynolds watched above him as an Al'Kesh burned from an impact on its side, but kept firing and finally took down the Ori Fighter it had been chasing. Both fell to the ground amidst charred and scorched metal throwing up a huge plume of dirt and flame. The Jaffa in the air were fighting back hard, but every victory came at a heavy price.

Cam now screamed with all his might. "_Colonel Reynolds! Get your team through the gate now! That is an order, Marine!"_

Technically, Cam didn't outrank him, but he _was_ lead on this mission. Reynolds didn't like it, but it made sense. He clicked his radio. "Teldy, Vega, Gudgin! Fall back to the gate _now!"_

-8:32pm-

Malcolm pushed down the barrel of Drake's machine gun and hissed at him. "_You nutter!_ We're outnumbered and you _want_ to fight them!"

Drake watched as several Ori soldiers poured out of the troop transport - Easy pickings from their hidden position behind a tent. "Less of em's better don't you think?" He snarled.

Garcia leaned over as they waited for the troops to disperse. "Not when they roast us. You ever see a man burn?" Garcia grit his teeth and looked over to where the Stargate was. "They're pushing on that. Once they take it we're done for. We need a ship."

Rachel nodded in agreement and motioned back to where their Al'Kesh still sat waiting. "The horse we rode in on?"

Malcolm smirked and kept his body low. He darted out from cover and tracked Ori soldiers who were nearby as he carefully snuck through the grassy terrain between tents., They didn't spot him and continued rushing towards the Gate uncaring of their flanks. _Ha, amateur fanatics._

Malcolm reached the next piece of cover, a broken shard of Ori Fighter on the ground and waved his team to follow while he covered with his rifle.

**-8:34pm-**

Cam spared Reynolds and his team a glance as they retreated through the Stargate - Ori staff pulses chasing them through the gate. The Jaffa's numbers had been whittled down, the skies were still on fire - Death Gliders struggling vainly to shoot down the few Ori fighters left.

The major issue for the Ori fighters was the constant stream of high powered staff cannon shots from the grounded Ha'tak. It created a wave of–

A shockwave behind them broke Cam's train of thought and drew his attention. He just barely caught the end run of an Ori Fighter strafing the gate - scoring two hits on its backside. The impacts caused the wormhole to flicker and spark. Cam heard screaming and then watched as the gate fell painfully slowly over onto its face swallowing several Jaffa in the still open wormhole.

Sam cursed in a much more profane manner than Cam was used to as Teal'c popped up out of cover and took down a pair of Ori soldiers who'd seen the carnage and were mesmerized. Teal'c quickly ducked as more return fire came in leaving the smell of burnt particulate in the air.

Sam looked at Cam, she wiped some grime off her face as she screamed. "That's _not_ good, Cam! We can't go through it _backwards!"_

Cam winced hard, took a second for himself, and then nodded. "Cargo Ship! There were plenty on the landing pad!"

The remaining Jaffa had scattered trying to spread the Ori's fire. SG-1 suddenly found itself on its own near the disabled stargate with plenty of Ori still trying to take the area.

Cam watched as Teal'c kept his calm, simply waiting for a lull in incoming fire before popping out and firing another burst from his P90. "We shall need to hurry, the Ori will overwhelm us shortly!"

Cam turned to Sam, and nodded towards her vest. "Boom boom?"

"Boom boom!" Sam understood immediately and pulled out her second last fragmentation grenade. Cam yanked one out and patted Teal'c on the shoulder. "Suppression!"

Teal'c nodded as he reloaded his P90. He took a deep breath, waited for a pause in incoming fire, and popped out again. He held the trigger down and sprayed from side to side, the bullets creating a cone of death the Ori Troops took cover from.

Sam and Cam both yanked the pins on their grenades, and tossed them up and over. The pair of explosives landed several feet away from each other, and detonated within a half second - showering the area in fragmented shrapnel creating a perfect alleyway for them to run through.

**-8:37pm-**

Drake followed Malcolm as he snuck between the burning tents, Malcolm led them through this vipers nest towards the landing pad. Rachel could see the smoke from the grenades behind them, and tapped Drake on the shoulder as they continued to sneak towards the landing pad. "How much ammo you got left?"

"Few hundred rounds, why?."

Rachel realized that they were going to need a huge distraction to get across the last open area to the ships. "Gimme the spare!"

Drake flinched back and became defensive. "What the hell are you gonna do with _ammo?"_

Garcia had heard, and moved forward as well. "Just give her the damn bullets _pendejo!"_

Malcolm reached the final covered area, they were about fifty feet away from their Al'kesh which had only taken minor damage from raining debris. He turned back to them and saw Rachel tear a long strip of cloth out of her shirt leaving her mid-riff exposed. He watched curiously as she then used that strip to lash her last homemade napalm grenade to one of Drake's spare boxes of ammo.

Rachel looked up and saw the smile form on Malcolm's face. He nodded in consent. It was nice to have a CO who understood her crazy plans.

**-8:39pm -**

Sam, Cam and Teal'c had rushed out upon the grenade's detonation and charged through, Teal'c firing forward, Cam to the left and Sam to the right. In their wedge running formation, they blew through the Ori advance with blistering speed and now continued towards the landing pad where the Jaffa struggled to evacuate those who were left. Cargo Ships opened hyperspace windows mere meters above the ground, desperate to escape the Ori advance.

Cam suddenly raised his P90 and fired a burst ahead of them "It's them! Take 'em down!"

Sam continued running ahead and dove behind cover by a large rock, she spotted the rogue team Cam had seen heading towards an Al'Kesh and opened fire as well.

One of them stumbled forward as Sam caught him in the back, but he spun around and fired his weapon spraying Sam's area with fire. A bullet caught her in the midsection sending herl rolling back to cover - groaning in pain. Cam had taken a round in the shoulder but held it together, only a little blood coming from the light wound. Cam ducked again and put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "How bad?"

"Vest caught it!" Sam shook her head as she struggled to catch her breath – her neck veins pulsating. _"Stop them!"_

In the chaos of the moment, Sam fed off he adrenaline and took aim at the rogue team - it was a brutally close fight, but it was still-

A massive plume of flame suddenly erupted between the two groups - the bright light blinded Sam enough to have to cover her eyes as she screamed and fell backwards. Moments later the distinct sound of bullets firing filled the air - They were firing much faster than even a machine gun should have been able to fire, She bit her lip and groaned in pain, blinking the slight burn on her retinas away.

Cam cursed again and dove behind cover - ignoring his burning shoulder. "_Clever bastards!_ I'm _not_ letting them get away!"

Teal'c instinctively aimed where he heard loud footsteps nearby, but held his fire as Rak'nor arrived, only a Zat in his hands. "Teal'c! Carter!"

Cam again grit his teeth. "Thought you went through the gate!"

Sam waved him over and he took cover along with them. He had a gash along his forehead, but otherwise he looked okay. Sam huffed softly at her thinking. It wasn't like she looked any better with her hair messy and dirt filled, the corner of her lip bleeding profusely, and bent over from the nasty bruise she'd gotten. "I have a Tel'tak at the other end of the landing pad! I'll need your help to reach it!"

Cam took in a deep breath of the hot air - He then nodded to Rak'nor."Lead the way! Cover him, Teal'c!"

Rak'nor shook off his dizziness and moved out, keeping low.

Around them, the Ori fighters had been driven off by the stout Jaffa resistance. The Ha'tak had done the heavy lifting, but the Death Gliders had finally rammed the Ori fighters in desperation with moderate success. A few Al'Kesh still flew about firing at the retreating Ori fighters.

The few Jaffa left on the ground continued to use their experience in warfare against the conscripted Ori Troops. They weren't well trained at all and moved in columns and mass bunches - swarming tactics. Easy pickings for old experienced ambush artists

The inferno ahead of them had died down, and Cam could see the box of ammunition that had been ignited to serve as a distraction. The Al'Kesh ahead of them began to power up, he gripped his P90 even harder and prayed that Rak'Nor's cargo ship had weapons.

**-8:52pm-**

"Holy shit! Look!" Drake pointed up to the sky where the Ori Mothership had turned and was coming close.

Garcia groaned as he pulled his vest off, a trio of nasty bruises along his back. Malcolm breathed harder as all four of his team now tried to calm down on the bridge of their Al'Kesh. Garcia looked up and cursed. "_Jodeme…_ it's gonna shoot!"

Malcolm moved to the front where Rachel was at the controls, and smacked his fist into the console. "Get us out of here _now."_

Rachel took a deep breath, and hit the balls to the wall. The Al'Kesh began to push forward - slowly. "The engines are damaged, we've lost cloak and guns are on manual control. We'll have to get to orbit to have enough power for hyperspace."

Drake began to hyperventilate. He simply muttered "_Sme'ce."_

Malcolm didn't care, he just put a single hand on Rachel's shoulder and squeezed softly. "I trust you, Rachel. Do it."

Rachel squirmed out of Malcolm's grasp and leaned into the piloting orb. "Hang on. I don't know if we'll-"

Ahead of them, the Ori ship finally reached clear position and fired its main pulse cannon at the ground towards them.

**-8:58pm-**

"Oh crap, _oh crap, oh crap!"_ Cam cursed as he and Sam spotted the incoming Ori pulse. It headed straight towards the highly explosive Ha'tak behind them as the unscathed cargo ship took off, Teal'c sat at the helm and calmly gripped the orb. "Teal'c, _Punch-it-Punch-it-Punch-it!"_

Teal'c leaned forward and threw all power into the engines. "_Indeed_."

Sam felt the ship accelerate just slightly, the inertial dampeners pushed to the limit. Rak'nor held still as she used some gauze from her tacvest to dress his facial gash. Her stomach hurt a but the adrenaline was staving off the shock. Cam had brushed off her concern for his injury, which turned out to be little more than a flesh wound thanks to the low caliber and strong armor.

In the cargo hold, several other Jaffa had joined them on their final mad dash. The shipyard was lost and miraculously the majority of the Jaffa had escaped albeit with a significant loss of materials.

Teal'c pushed the craft up into the atmosphere, dodging from left to right as Ori Fighters and Death Gliders still tangoed. He headed right towards the incoming pulse. Cam momentarily panicked, but then saw what Teal'c was after. "There! There they are!"

"I am well aware, Colonel Mitchell." Teal'c calmly said as he nimbly dodged a stray Ori fighter trying to shoot them down.

The pulse came closer, growing in size as it approached the Ha'tak behind them. Teal'c let the Tel'tak drift to the side following the slow moving Al'Kesh heading to orbit. Sam momentarily worried that an Ori fighter chasing it would destroy it, but a well placed plasma bomb tore through the Ori fighter's shielding and ignited whatever flammables were inside. The craft spun out of control, spewing smoke and debris as it fell to the planet below.

Teal'c calmly aimed the cargo ship above the Al'Kesh, he wasn't about to let them get a good shot at them. Rak'nor's cargo ship had a pair of Death Glider staff cannons attached, but it would take a concentrated effort to take down an Al'Kesh.

Safely out of the way of the main pulse cannon, Teal'c could hear Rak'nor questioning why they weren't hyperspacing away. The pulse flew by harmlessly, the sound of burning atmosphere going past in a subsonic roar. The shockwave of the pulse slamming into the outpost and grounded Ha'tak shook the cargo ship even at this range.

Sam moved ahead to another console and brought up the rear cameras showing a firestorm and flying debris catching up to them. "Teal'c!"

Teal'c simply nodded and maintained his concentration. The Al'Kesh was almost in range, but they were nearing orbit and the Ori Mothership had launched a fighter wing to deal with the fast moving craft. The massive plume of the explosion beneath them finally abated, leaving a horrible scar along the face of the planet.

"What are you doing? We have to escape!"

Teal'c ignored Rak'nor and finally got a good lock on the Al'Kesh in front of them, he squeezed the orb triggering the staff cannons.

Just as the bolts flew ahead though, the Al'Kesh opened a hyperspace window and disappeared. Cam cursed loudly and punched the console in front of him. "_Dammit! _Get us outta here Teal'c!" He looked over to Sam, She was as infuriated as he was because she understood; they'd lost their chance to take out the rogue team and there wasn't going to be another chance for a long time. Not with the Ori being such a dangerous threat.

Teal'c activated the hyperdrive engine as the Ori fighters opened fire. All the shots missed as the Cargo Ship had already entered the rip in space-time, and the planet's conquest by the Ori was complete.


	6. Mice and Men

**Chapter 6 – Mice and Men**

* * *

**- Planet: P2X-3YZ (Earth) -**

**- Washington, DC -**

**- May 26th 2007 -**

**- 7:52 am Local Time -**

* * *

Sam groaned softly and pulled her pillow over her head. "_Shut up…"_

The cellphone on her nightstand continued to ring despite her plea, the hilarious audio clip of Homer Simpson's snoring doing everything it could to wake Sam from her slumber.

_Hnnngggrhhh me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me! _

_Hnnngggrhhh me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me!_

_"Go away…"_ Sam muttered.

_Hnnngggrhhh me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me! _

_Hnnngggrhhh me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me!_

Finally unable to endure anymore, Sam pulled the Blackberry phone from the stand and instinctively hit the call button. She jammed the phone under the pillow with her head and muttered. "Carter."

_"Get up, breakfast awaits."_

Sam smiled despite herself. Jack never minced words. "I just helped defeat a race of beings that even the Ancients were afraid of. Can't I sleep in just this once?"

_"Carter. 0900. Everyone's confirmed."_

Flinging her pillow aside, Sam looked around her DC hotel room. It was surprisingly comfortable but she missed her cozy little house in Colorado. The sun was just cresting over the horizon and it would shine in her eyes soon enough. She sighed heavily and said. "Alright, sir. Can you send someone to pick me up? I haven't gotten my rental yet."

_"I'm in the lobby, Carter. Daniel says hi."_

Sam winced and chuckled. Finally aware enough to call herself awake, she checked the clock on the nightstand and saw it was already eight AM. Just enough time to shower, get dressed and out the door before they'd breach and drag her kicking and screaming. "Should have known. I'll be down in a bit."

_"Do hurry. Vala's being… Vala."_

Sam chuckled and hung up – now to brave the horrors of the hotel washroom.

**-9:15 am-**

"No no no… Pancakes are _so_ much better than waffles."

Sam felt the edge of her lips rise as Teal'c shifted in his seat at the reply. Jack crossed his arms in defiance beside her, with Cam on her other side. Vala and Daniel sat opposite them as they waited for their orders. The large hotel dining room was mostly empty, Sam was grateful as she'd been worried they'd have a convention and cause her more headache than she needed.

Cam looked the happiest though. He was finally out of bed from his sparring session on Odyssey with what he'd come to call "Terminator Merrick". Sam didn't envy him the honor. The small bandage on his cheek made him look like a boxer – and oddly cute.

Teal'c straightened and clasped his hands together in front of him. "I disagree, O'Neill. Waffles are the superior product."

Jack grumbled and shook his head. "They're _messy._ They don't melt in your mouth, and every time you take a bite syrup gets all over the place."

"It is a food that requires skill to eat properly. One must bite on the edge of the squares." Teal'c cleared the area ahead of him as the waitress brought the cart with all their food beside. "Regardless, the waffle's unique design maximizes syrup distribution. This alone puts it in a class altogether separate from pancakes."

"What about Crepes?" Vala chimed in as she accepted her plate of the named food. Both Jack and Teal'c stared at her, as if the question was irrelevent to their conversation. "What? It's the best for both of you. Light and fluffy, and filled with delicious cream!"

Beside Vala, Daniel covered his mouth by pretending to rub his chin, Sam swore she could _hear_ his smile. Cam shrugged and helped to pass around the team's food. "She's got a point."

Teal'c turned to Cam with a serious expression. "This conversation does not involve crepes – merely whether pancakes or waffles are a superior choice."

Jack grinned snarkily at Cam. "He's right, keep your frou-frou crepes. Pancakes are perfect. You can even clean your plate with them." Jack mimed wiping his plate with the imaginary pancake. "Get every last bit."

Teal'c rebutted. "With a waffle, you can choose your level of syrup distribution as well as crispness. There will be no _need_ to clean one's plate. With a pancake, it rapidly becomes sodden."

Sam remained quiet and just listened to her two best friends argue. It was great to have a moment in her life when there wasn't anything as important as deciding whether waffles or pancakes were better.

* * *

**- Planet: P4C-M4N (Leilani) -**

**- Former LA Outpost -**

**- May 27th 2007 -**

**- 3:10 am Local Time -**

* * *

Dan turned his head in surprise as he watched the woman walk down to the gateroom and nod to their resident gate tech. Phela.. Phal… phil..Phelan! That was his name. He wondered for a moment - he hadn't seen her before, but then seeing that she was carrying a bag with assorted goodies in it, realized who she was.

He strolled down the hall, idly nodding to the four Lucian Alliance workers who'd come to live on the base with them as support staff. It'd been difficult to keep the Lucians from trying to blame the team for what happened with their shock troops and the Ha'tak, but given the Ori's involvement, they'd been able to keep it from devolving into a massacre.

Dan had to admit though, Malcolm was a tactical genius. Instead of meeting directly with the Alliance after the massacre, they'd used a cargo ship with a Stargate inside as a long range communications device. Kiva and her gang had been furious as they'd lost the most people, but in the end, agreeing to a few risky ops against the Ori Remnant had worked out. He may have not liked the Ori weapons, but they made good trade material to the Lucians.

Dan walked up to Garcia's room and knocked on the door. A few moments passed and Garcia's voice screamed. "_The hell is it?"_

"It's me, homes!"

The sounds of someone getting up came from inside, and soon enough Garcia opened the door. He was dressed in a fine bathrobe and looked tired. "Dan, it's fuckin' one in the morning. The hell you still doing up?"

Dan shrugged. "Couldn't sleep, still sore." Dan stretched his shoulder where he'd pulled a muscle on their latest op. The Ori Staff weapons weren't that accurate, but he still didn't want to know what it felt like to get hit by one. "What's up with you? Who was that woman?"

Garcia rubbed the back of his neck and then chuckled. "Ha, you mean Na'dice? Yeah, met her on that planet we caught Al'Mack on."

Dan raised an eyebrow. _"Met?"_

"Man's got needs." Garcia shrugged. "Not like there's much choice round 'ere. Rache'd probably feed me my own nuts."

"Ha!" Dan laughed. "Probably." He shook his head idly and sighed. "A'ight, just wanted to make sure you were okay. Sleep tight homes."

Garcia chuckled softly and waved off Dan as he shut the door. Dan sighed and stretched his neck. He'd been having trouble sleeping for the last few days and decided to see if the mess had anything that could help him sleep.

**-3:32 am- **

"Rache?" Dan mused as he turned into the mess hall. Rachel was already inside sitting in the corner with a kettle. "You couldn't sleep either?"

Rachel shrugged and leaned back against the wall. "That last one was too close. Malcolm's right, fanatics are dangerous." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Fucking religion."

Dan smirked and slowly pulled out a chair to sit across from Rachel. "Not a God person?"

Rachel shook her head and took a sip of the herbal smelling tea. "God… is indifferent." She set her cup down and sighed. "You ever wonder exactly how fucked up things are back home? All those people so sure they know who and what God is?"

"Yeah…" Dan rubbed his chin as he looked at the kettle. "You mind?"

Rachel shrugged again. "Doesn't work, but go ahead."

Dan poured himself a mug of the tea. He noted a few more workers behind him cleaning up and maintaining the Ha'tak's mess hall, and that Rachel was still keeping her back to a solid wall. "So whatchu wanna do till Malcolm and Garcia figure out what to do next? Ori are gone, Jaffa are still fucked up. Lucians are…"

"Don't." Rachel interrupted tersely.

"Hmm?"

"Don't."

Dan narrowed his eyes and took a sip of the tea. "Don't what?"

"Don't flirt with me. Don't try and be my friend when all you want is sex." Rachel said it calmly, Dan couldn't tell if he was surprised or relieved that she'd finally come out and said it.

Dan sighed and set the tea down. "Is that what you think this is? I just want your ass?"

"What else could you want?" Rachel muttered. "What else does anyone want from me?"

Dan set his cup down and clenched his jaw. He'd thought that maybe a little spat and this would be over, but evidently Rachel wasn't going to give him an inch. "Look, I don't know fuck all what happened to you, but don't assume you know me either."

Rachel scoffed. "Oh? You're a marine. You probably just broke your ROE and got kicked out. Big deal."

Dan breathed in deeply, his fists clenched now as he recalled what got him discharged from the Marines. "You wanna know what got me kicked out? You _really_ wanna know?" He looked up at Rachel who still sneered at him. "You ever make it back home. Back to Earth… you go to Sarajevo. You drive north 'bout an hour. There's a little side road where a Serb field base used to be. You drive ten minutes and you'll hit a bigass pothole in the road." Dan paused for a moment before finishing. "It took me three hours to dig out that hole. 'nother two to fill it back up." He brushed the cup back to the side and got up. "You're not the only one who left shit behind, and maybe I talk to you because Garcia's a fucking psycho and Leach is even worse – can't talk with him at _all._" He looked down at the kettle and scoffed, a slight rush of adrenaline going through his veins. "You were right. It didn't work."

With that, Dan stormed off leaving Rachel behind with a silent expression

* * *

**- Planet: P2X-3YZ (Earth) -**

**- The Pentagon -**

**- May 27th 2007 -**

**- 7:52 am Local Time -**

* * *

Jack sighed deeply, he was _quite_ content. The Ori were all but gone, the Jaffa were rebuilding, and all was quiet again.

He had a few meetings with some crazy scientist people who wanted to talk about some information on the Stargate they'd found in Atlantis' database, but that wasn't for awhile. He had cringed on seeing their plan to try and leech the smarts of everyone in the gaming industry, but it wasn't his problem. At least not yet.

He heard a knock at the door to his office. Jack straightened his posture just in case it was someone important. "Who is it?"

_"It's Colonel Mitchell, sir!"_

Jack instantly deflated. Not that he was disappointed, but Cam wasn't exactly at the top of his 'people to straighten his posture to.' "Door's unlocked!"

Cam entered the room, quickly followed by Sam and Daniel who looked around the messy office. Jack smiled softly seeing them both wince, a messy office looked like a busy office, Jack had learned that quickly. "Three on one? Hardly fair."

Daniel snorted softly and shook his head. "This is important, Jack."

Daniel looked over at Sam who nodded idly. "We were hoping you could help us, sir."

"Something we wanna get done before the next galaxy wide catastrophe, sir." Cam interjected with a smirk.

Jack already knew what they were after, but he was in a playful mood. Why call when he could check and get an even bigger pot in the end? "Ah… T? Vala?"

Sam breathed in sharply and grinned nervously. "Busy. Vala wanted to do some shopping while she was here and Teal'c… _volunteered_… to go with her."

Jack's lip crept up in amusement. "Really?"

Daniel sighed and batted the issue aside with a wave of his hand. "We drew straws; but this involves them too. It's something that we've been aware of for months but haven't had a chance to track down."

"Bocce?" Jack loved being obfuscating – _especially_ to Daniel.

Sam saw right through it, just like Jack knew she would. "Yes, but the Tok'ra are on that case. We're talking about the rogue RedScope team. They're still on the loose and with the Ori gone now, we can divert resources to tracking them down."

Cam nodded and added. "We're asking for your help, sir. Just one last thing SG-1 wants to get out of the way before things get too busy again."

Jack raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Again?"

Daniel grit his teeth, finally understanding what Jack was doing. "_Jack!_ "

Feeling quite amused with himself, Jack held up a finger and reached into his desk. He rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a small folder. He tossed it across the desk to near Cam. "Already approved – IOA wants those people caught and you've got a blank check."

Cam visibly deflated in relief, he shook his head idly and chuckled. "Thank you, sir." He picked up the folder and looked to Daniel. "Come on, Vala's probably ruined your credit again."

Jack smiled and waited until they began to move away. "Carter, stay for a minute."

Sam turned to Jack, then to Cam and Daniel. "I'll catch up. We're still on for lunch." Both Cam and Daniel nodded, and Sam moved back to across the desk from Jack. "How long did you know?"

Jack shrugged. "Since we sent you after em the first time. IOA knows it's important." He took a deep breath and sighed. "This isn't about RedScope. It's about you."

Sam raised her eyebrows and sat down. "Me? What about me?"

Jack looked at Sam carefully. When Woolsey had explained the situation, he wasn't surprised that they'd wanted Sam on the case. "The IOA wants you to assist with the Atlantis Expedition - Midway to be exact."

Sam nodded idly, unsurprised. "Well I did help design it. McKay's been handling the software and…." That's when it finally hit Sam, and she paused before finishing. "…They want me to help _build_ Midway?"

Jack nodded. "Along with Bill."

Sam's smile shifted into a nervous state. Alone with Bill Lee in between galaxies didn't sound like the most fun ever, but Jack could see the excitement behind Sam's eyes at the thought of the station itself. "Well… that'd mean I'd have to leave SG-1. Rejoin Area 51?"

Jack shrugged again. "Not this time, they want to keep you front line military. Atlantis might need more support soon and there's always more 304s being built."

Sam furrowed her brow. "Uhh.. So I've got a choice?"

Jack drummed his fingers on his desk and kept his smile. "Not exactly, but they want you on something more…" Jack made air quotes. "_…important…_than SG-1."

Jack saw the recognition in Sam's eyes. She spoke softly. "So no more SG-1?"

"Nope. It's Mitchell's now. Teal'c is leaving soon too, Daniel's probably going to take a desk job."

Sam nodded idly. "I knew about Teal'c and Daniel..." Sam chuckled. "He needs a break. He's been through a lot and I don't blame him wanting some time to himself." Sam lost her smile and stared at Jack. "How soon do they want me on Midway?"

Jack shifted his chin about for a moment, and then said. "Four weeks. I left that out of the folder I gave Mitchell."

Sam breathed in deeply, and then got up. "That's not a lot of time. They could be anywhere-"

"It's all I could get." Jack interrupted. He looked up at Sam and pumped his fists. "Four weeks. You find that team and you drag them back here.. by any means necessary."

Sam saw that it wasn't just Jack saying it, it was General O'Neill. "Yes, sir."

* * *

**- Planet: P4C-M4N (Leilani) -**

**- Former LA Outpost -**

**- May 30th 2007 -**

**- 7:28 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Dan cursed softly as he washed his hands in the large communal bathroom the Ha'tak had. These crazy water misting faucets took forever, but he could understand why it was so conserved. The Jaffa grease he'd used to lubricate the HK416 he'd found in their remaining cache from RedScope's offworld base got _everywhere _and it was hell to get it off.

The twin drum magazine let him hold a full hundred rounds which was useful against Jaffa or Ori Remnant who still used non-reloading energy weapons.

He idly wondered when Earth was going to come up with an energy weapon that could replace all these projectile weapons, maybe he'd even live to see it happen one day. For now though, he just scrubbed his hands and then splashed his face.

Malcolm had gone on some trip to see if they could get any more work from the Lucians, which basically left the base unattended. Even the Lucians were scared of Malcolm.

As he dried his hands with a towel and headed to the exit, the doors opened in front of him – Rachel standing there with her arms crossed. "Whoa." Dan narrowed his eyes at her. "Ambush?"

Rachel sighed irritably and motioned with her head. "Come on."

Dan worried for a moment but followed anyway. Rachel looked strange in her comfortable homemade Jaffa style clothes. It certainly left more to the imagination than the stuff they'd stolen from Ish'ta. Dan then thought about his own clothes. It'd been _months_ since he'd worn proper Earth boxers and it was getting annoying.

Rachel led him around the grounded Ha'tak, eventually ending up in the top observation room where they had a full view of their surroundings. A few Jaffa couch equivalents were stashed here as well as a coffee table of sorts he'd put together from some select pieces of wood. He quietly followed Rachel's moves and sat down opposite her,

She didn't look happy, not that she did most of the time anyway. But there was something different, She wasn't her usually angry self, more resigned. Dan worried for a moment, but Rachel spoke quietly. "Why'd you kill him?"

Dan furrowed his brow. "Who?"

_"Him."_ Rachel insisted. "The pothole in Sarajevo."

Dan hesitated a second, and turned away. The gas giant nearby looked like a nice place to hide. "Long story."

"So's mine." Rachel countered. "You said it, we've all got stories. What is it you Americans say? 'Show me yours and I'll show you mine'?"

Dan muffled his laugh with a cough and pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd been expecting some kind of reprisal for his comments to her a few nights ago but this was taking the cake. "Yeah something like that." Dan sighed. "Long story short. Fucker killed my parents. Took me years to track him down and well… Bosnia was on and I was a peacekeeper." He rubbed his forehead at the sudden headache. "It's funny, both my proudest moment and worst crime are one and the same."

Rachel said nothing, she merely looked down at the table in contemplation. It took her a few moments but eventually she said. "I can understand that. I was… _close_ to my parents."

"Not me." Dan muttered. Seeing Rachel's confused look, he explained. "They sent me state-side when I was a kid, grew up in DC. Again, long story short, the Marines turned a wannabe Scarface into a real killer." Again, Rachel was quiet. Dan wasn't happy with that and added. "So… now you know. So what's up your ass?"

Rachel's fists clenched and her arms flexed. Dan could see the hatred in her eyes boil over, but not at him. "Lebanon." Rachel said through clenched teeth. "I was IDF. Turned Mossad. Like you say, long story short; I got caught…" Her fists were shaking now, Dan could see she was beyond furious. "…Took me a month to break out."

Dan didn't need to ask. Rachel's personality more than said what had happened. "You kill em?"

Rachel nodded and looked back at Dan's face. "It's funny what a person can do when they don't feel anything anymore. You hear all about war crimes, civvies getting killed." Rachel paused and swallowed. "Soldiers get it worse. I didn't even have to go AWOL, they just let me leave."

Dan winced. "I thought IDF was pretty good with that."

Rachel took a deep breath and shook her head. "They are, but it didn't matter." She bowed her head again and rubbed her mouth, Dan didn't like the way Rachel seemed suddenly vulnerable, a nerve had been touched and she was on a hair trigger.

Dan said nothing else, this wasn't a situation he was used to and even more, Rachel was unstable. He didn't know whether to walk away as he normally would, or try and console her. In the end he went with the safest thing to do – nothing.

* * *

**- Planet: P1C-T4R (Eldross) -**

**- Free Jaffa Settlement -**

**- June 13th 2007 -**

**- 8:16 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Two weeks now, Sam was getting a little worried that she'd be shunted off to Midway before putting this behind her. She knew from experience that leaving something unresolved like this had a tendency to come and bite her in the ass later on in life. Now she and most of SG-1 were waiting in the shadows of the night filled forest, a Jaffa village not far off.

Cam sat with his back to a tree and an FN-SCAR in his hands. Reynolds' report said the Rogues had impressive body armor and the heavier rounds would come in handy just in case. Vala rested her head and snored softly on Daniel's shoulder while the archeologist read a book, all of them waiting for the biggest part of SG-1.

Sam noted a cloaked figure approaching them from the village. She pushed off her leaning position. "Any luck?" Sam asked, leaning back on the tree in the shadows.

Teal'c moved in closer, the rest of SG-1 stirred to life. Teal'c was dressed in his Jaffa robes and trying to remain inconspicuous, Sam found it amusing that a man as large as him could be so stealthy. "Indeed. Several villagers reported that a group of heavily armed Tau'ri traveled here to trade. They exchanged Ori Weapons and armor in exchange for food and other necessities."

Cam got to his feet and asked. "Ori? Damn… they've been busy."

Sam turned back to where Daniel helped Vala up who rubbed her eyes. Vala asked drearily. "Do we know where they are? I'm getting tired of sitting these waits out."

Daniel snorted and gently brushed off some errant leaves and twigs that had gotten caught in Vala's hair. "Should have brought you a pillow."

Sam held her tease inside, and kept on subject. "Teal'c, did they say anything about when they were coming back?"

Teal'c nodded. "Not exactly. One of them, Na'Dice, is contacted by one of the rogue team on occasion. She's taken to their base to do work for pay. The Rogue team evidently has a large outpost as well as a hired support staff."

Daniel sighed. "Damn, they _have_ been busy."

Sam interjected. "Do we have any idea where they are? Are they coming back anytime soon?"

Teal'c shook his head. "Na'Dice was not very forthcoming. She simply said that when she is called, she's taken to several worlds blindfolded first in order to keep the Rogue Team's outpost a secret."

Sam kicked the dirt out from underneath her in frustration. "Drat."

* * *

**- Planet: P4C-M4N (Leilani) -**

**- Former LA Outpost -**

**- June 14th 2007 -**

**- 5:23 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Malcolm was looking at this new map Kiva had gotten him for a Free Jaffa Outpost that had a large supply of Naquadah – a steaming cup of tea beside him. A raid on it would be difficult, but Kiva had promised stronger support including a Ha'tak. With some doing, they could easily take it over and steal what they needed before things went pear-shaped.

He sighed and leaned back on his chair in the office he'd set up for himself. Sipping his tea, he looked around. There were dozens of papers and a computer console set up, enough equipment to operate an entire forward field base. He'd also been building up knowledge and contacts, even among the Tok'ra and SGC operatives in the Lucian Alliance. It was amusing to him, he could typically tell who was on whose side from the way they spoke and acted.

The doors behind him chimed, and he turned his head. "Who is it?"

_"Garcia. We need to talk."_

Malcolm grumbled softly, Garcia wasn't his favorite person but unlike the Tok'ra or SGC operatives, he certainly could act the part better. "Yeah, one moment, keep your britches on." He got up and moved over to the door, it unlocked and Garcia stood there with his arms crossed. "What is it?"

"We have a problem." Garcia began, his face serious. "The SGC is on to us. One of my contacts just told me that a large black Jaffa questioned her a few days ago. Sound familiar?"

"Not that whore you've been bringing here is it?"

"And if it is?" Garcia defended. "What difference does it make? They're sniffing closer."

Malcolm took in a deep breath and sighed. "SG-1. I've been expecting this." Malcolm looked back at his office and his desk. There was _one_ paper there that he'd been hoping not to use. "Come in, we'll need to talk before letting the team in on this."

Garcia narrowed his eyes. "Whatcha got planned?"

Malcolm smirked. "How do you get a dog to stop following you?"

"Toss it a bone?" Garcia ventured.

Malcolm checked his groan and turned away. "You kick it hard."

* * *

**- Planet: P1C-T4R (Eldross) -**

**- Free Jaffa Settlement -**

**- June 16th 2007 -**

**- 1:21 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Cam wasn't sure what to make of this. "I thought you said she didn't want to talk about it?"

Teal'c simply stared back at Cam as they sat in the bar on this neutral Jaffa planet. "I am not sure what to make of this Colonel Mitchell." He looked across at Sam and Daniel who drank simple cups of water. "Na'Dice does not seem like a very forthcoming woman. I would not be surprised if the Rogue Team were using her as a means of distracting us."

Sam sighed. "A false lead? Bread crumbs in the wrong direction?"

Taal'c nodded. "Indeed, or perhaps something more sinister."

Daniel rubbed his forehead. "A trap."

Cam shook his head and looked over to the bar. Vala was still arguing with the barkeep over something or other. He didn't want to get involved since he knew he'd just end up with a bigger headache. "So what? Should we follow this intel? It's just a planet with some Jaffa outpost on it. If anything we might be able to talk Rak'nor and Bra'tac into helping us take them down."

"I do not believe that to be wise, Colonel Mitchell." Teal'c said. "Contacting the Free Jaffa will reveal more than we need to. We may scare away the rogue team who likely know we are after them. This may be our only chance to capture them, even if it is a trap."

Cam drummed his fingers on the table. He didn't like the way he was being led around by this rogue team, but he didn't see much other option. "Anyone wanna back out, no worries. I'm going after them."

To Cam's shock, a hand came down on his shoulder and squeezed. "Oh cheer up Cameron." Vala said with a smile as she set down a tray filled with assorted goodies. "Since when have we ever let you face death alone?"

The team chuckled softly at Vala's antics, but no one backed out. Cam smiled despite himself and grabbed a likely looking fruit pastry thing and popped it in his mouth. If Vala was in, they all were.

* * *

**- Planet: P4C-M4N (Leilani) -**

**- Former LA Outpost -**

**- June 17th 2007 -**

**- 2:43 pm Local Time -**

* * *

Malcolm finished detailing his plan to the rest of his team as they sat in the briefing room. It was obvious, it wasn't smooth, and it certainly wasn't without its drawbacks, but some lines had to be drawn and this was one of them. "I've already set it up with the Lucians. If Garcia's whore did her job, then the Lucians and Earth will find each other over that planet."

Drake shifted uncomfortably around in his seat, as did Rachel. Malcolm wasn't surprised that Garcia wasn't affected by the plan. Garcia said. "Earth'll wipe the floor with the Lucians. No way we'd accomplish that mission."

Malcolm nodded. "Exactly, and we'll drag Earth into a bigger conflict with the Alliance. With the Ori gone, they're the biggest threat but Earth isn't paying attention to them. They're after _us_ of all people and ignoring the big bad wolf at the door."

Rachel tented her fingers and breathed calmly. "What about SG-1? They'll be there waiting for us."

Malcolm smiled, this was where the real brilliance of his plan came into effect. "HVPs. But that doesn't mean don't rough them up. Killing them would put us at Earth's most wanted list. They'd forget everything else and hunt us down like foxes."

Drake furrowed his brow. "Foxes?"

Rachel groaned softly and explained. "A fox hunt. God have you _ever_ read a book?"

Drake shrugged in reply. "Playboy, but I don't think that counts as reading."

Garcia chuckled, and Rachel groaned softly. Malcolm did note that she didn't even seem bothered by Drake's quips anymore. Maybe they really were learning to work together. "SG-1 _has_ to survive. So no head shots, no armor piercing rounds, no explosives. We trap them, rough them up and leave. Let Earth, the Jaffa, and the Lucians fight it out. We won't be involved." Malcolm saw the understanding in his team's eyes. It was a complicated mission with everything that could go wrong, but if everything went right, then their lives would remain uncomplicated for the foreseeable future.


End file.
